Adventures of Team Cedar City: Book 1
by wallmans-spitfire
Summary: This story is getting re-uploaded because I accidentally deleted it. Working on Book 2.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm re-uploading this story because I accidentally deleted it while cleaning out my account stuff. I know the story starts off with bad grammar and spelling and doesn't have the best structure, but I wrote this a year or so ago. It gets better as you go I promise, and I'm sorry if something is confusing at a point about the prophecy because I couldn't find the book prologue that explained it.**

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Chapter 1

Percy

It has been a year since the battle against Gaea and the giants. The summer had been great so far, I was at Camp Half Blood with Annabeth and Tyson but Grover hasn't been seen since the winter solstice. No quests have been issued this summer so all we have been doing is train; soon I'll be heading back to Manhattan for the college. Annabeth had arranged with Chiron and her father for her to stay in camp until New Years so she would be able to come to New York to see me before she has to go to her dad's for the second semester of college.

Right now I was heading to the Big House with Annabeth because Chiron and Mr. D had summoned us for some reason.

"Why do you think they need to talk to us," Annabeth asked breaking the silence between us.

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with Grover," I suggested, hoping I was right since I was starting to actually miss the satyr.

"I hope so, no one has heard from him in a while and Juniper is really worried," she agreed, squeezing my hand as we walk onto the porch of the Big House.

"There you two are, come on inside," a centaur said, yeah I said centaur, half man, half horse. We followed him inside and sat down on the couch when he motioned for us to take a against the wall beside the door way was a man wearing a leopard print Hawaiian shirt.

"Why did you call us," Annabeth asked. I rubbed circles on the back of her hand, trying to get her to relax. The centaur handed me a folded letter that was addressed to me and Annabeth. I opened it and noticed it was from Grover. I handed it to Annabeth and she read it out loud to all of us.

"Dear Percy and Annabeth,Sorry for not writing sooner but things have been hectic with all the traveling and all. Anyways, I'm going to be starting school in Cedar City, a small, unknown, town in Ohio. I wanted to ask you guy this in an iris message but there is no privacy in this town and I don't have the time to go through a conversation. There is a big group of demigods here and one really stands out there was another one stood out, not as much though, but they disappeared the day after I started watching them and I can't leave the rest especially since they are all friends and are always together and you know how bad that is. I need you guys to come and help me out and if you can bring Tyson too he would be a big help. I'll be able to give you guys more details when you get here. I got to go, make sure you have your battle equipment you're going to need it. Oh, and I already have you enrolled in the college so no worries there, make sure you tell your mom, , Grover," she read out loud.

"Looks like I'm not going to NYU this semester," I remarked.

"Percy, call your mom and tell her what's going on and then go pack, you too, Annabeth," Chiron said. We nodded and got off the couch and made our way out of the house. "Make sure to come see us before you leave," he added as we walked past him.

First we went on the Athena cabin and I waited for Annabeth as she went in to grab her cell phone. When she came out she was already on it talking to her dad.

"No, dad, I'm not going to let them get killed and Grover sounded pretty frantic in the letter," she said. "Bye, dad," she said after a moment and then she ended the call.

"I'm guessing he didn't want you to go," I said.

"He didn't want me to go since we won't have any parental super vision and it's a town he has never heard of till now," she replied.

"Ohh," I mutter, understanding her dad's concern and I could tell her dad also didn't want her to go since I was going. Annabeth handed me her cell phone and went back into her cabin to pack. I dialed my mom's cell and walk to my cabin as it rang.

"Hello," my mom answered.

"Hey, mom, it's me," I said.

"Oh, Percy, how has camp been," she asked.

"It has been great, anyways I need to talk to you about something," I replied. "Grover sent me and Annabeth a letter and it said he needs our help with a group of undetermined demigods. So he wants us to go and meet him in Cedar City, Ohio. He has already enrolled us in the school."

"Is Chiron going?"

"Well, no, but Grover only asked for me, Annabeth, and Tyson," I replied.

"Ok you can go but make sure you come back for Christmas at least, ok," my mother said. "Oh, and remember the talk we had in the spring," she added. I shuddered at the reminder but decided to keep it in mind for all our sakes.

"Alright, thanks mom, see you at Christmas time," I said happily before ending the call. I finally walked into my cabin and started packing.

Five minutes later someone knocked on the door of the cabin. "Come in," I called from my bed, knowing that it was Annabeth. She walked in with her backpack slung over her shoulder; she sat down on the bed and held my hand. "I'm guessing you're done packing," I said.

"And obviously your not," she said, pointing to my half full backpack at the foot of the bunk.

"Yeah, well, I don't have as much stuff as you," I pointed out, giving her my signature grin. Annabeth smiled and then she hit my stomach with the back of her hand. I whined in fake pain and laughed when she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, we need to go find Tyson so we can leave," Annabeth said, pushing herself off the bed. I grabbed my pack and followed her out of cabin. As we walked across camp toward the forages Conner and Travis Stoll ran over from the Camp Half Blood gift shop.

"You two look like you're going on a quest," Conner said.

"We're just going to help out a few unclaimed demigods is all," I replied.

"Then why are you heading to the forages," Travis asked.

"We're getting Tyson, he is coming too," I replied.

"I just saw him heading to the beach a few minutes ago," he said, pointing over his shoulder toward the beach. Annabeth and I glanced at each other before we waved good bye to the brother and sprinted to the beach. When we got there Tyson was standing in the water up to his shins.

"Tyson, wait, where are you going," Annabeth called. Tyson turned and ran back to us when he heard her voice.

"Been ordered to report back to the forages to make ten hindered thousand weapons," he replied.

"Can't it wait? Grover wants us to go help him with group of demigods in Ohio," I said.

"I wish I could go help Goat Boy but I have to go to the forages right away, sorry," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess it's just you and me, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"Well, see you later, big guy, make a bunch of weapons for Dad's army," I said, patting Tyson's shoulder. He nodded before walking back into the sea and disappearing under the waves.

"Come on, Percy, let's not make Argus wait to long," Annabeth said, intertwining our fingers and pulling me away from the water and toward Half-Blood Hill.

Argus dropped us off at a bus station that was headed to Columbus, Ohio. From there we rented a car and bought a map. While I drove Annabeth gave me directions. We stayed on the country roads since Annabeth said it was shorter and we could drive faster. By the time we got to Cedar City the sun was going down and we were hungry and tired. As we drove down an half empty street I spotted Grover hiding in some bushes on the side of the street. I pulled over and shook Annabeth awake. She blinked at me and then spotted Grover in the bushes beside the car.

I rolled down the window and reached my head out. "Hey, Grover, watcha' doing," I asked. Grover jumped, knocking his hat off the hid his horns, and spun around quickly.

"Ba-ba-ha, Percy, don't do that," he bleated, angrily. I just laugh and motioned him to get in the car. "What, no Tyson," he asked.

"He was ordered back to the forages," I replied.

"He, really, wanted to come and help though," Annabeth added, with a yawn.

"So where are you staying, Grover," I asked.

"In an abandon house not far from here it has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a good sized kitchen, and a living room," he replied. "It's completely furnished too. I think the old owners left in a hurry since there is still cable and everything else, it's great though I kind of ate some of the furnisher."

"Of course you did, Grover," I laughed, Annabeth giggled before laying her head on the car window.

"Percy get driving I want sleep in a comfortable bed not in this crummy car," she mumbled, before letting out another yawn.

"I guess you're explaining everything tomorrow," I told Grover as I pulled back out onto the road and drove to the house.

That night I guess the gods decided to spare me for a change and let me have a peaceful sleep, which I haven't had for a while. When I woke up I felt completely refreshed and was ready for whatever was thrown at me. I sat up, stretched, and looked around my temporary room. The walls were a pale blue, there was a dresser in the corner with a TV sitting on top, and there was an empty closet beside it. I rubbed my eyes and let out a huge yawn before I crawled out of bed a grabbed my pack and pulled out some cloths for the day. "Percy, you up yet," Grover called from the other side of the bedroom door.

"Yep," I replied opening the door. "Is Annabeth up yet?" He shook his head and motioned down the hall. I walked over to a tan door and knocked on it. When there was no reply I carefully opened the door and peered inside. On a purple bed I saw a bundle of blond hair. I crept into the room and over to the bed. "Spider," I whispered into Annabeth's ear. She automatically shot up with her eyes wide and dagger in hand. Grover (who was standing in the doorway) and I cracked up laughing. Annabeth grabbed her pillow, got up on her knees and hit me upside the head with it and then threw it at Grover.

"That wasn't funny, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth growled.

"Yeah it was," Grover said, still laughing. Annabeth glared at him and Grover ran down the hall. Then she returned her focus on me and put her dagger to my throat.

"Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind," I said, putting up my hands defensively.

"You could have just said 'Hey, Annabeth, time to wake up'," she said, still glaring at me.

"I guess that would have been a better choice," I said, I grinned. She relaxed and set the dagger on the bed side table.

"Now get out so I can get dressed," she said, pointing to the door. I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me before I went downstairs. I found Grover in the living room watching 'Mythbusters' and chewing on a tin can.

"Wow, she didn't stab you," he said when I walked into the room.

"Yeah, well, I guess she just likes me to much," I remarked, sitting in the beige chair facing away from the stairs.

"Yeah, that's it," Grover said, sarcastically.

"Maybe it is Grover, you may never know," Annabeth said behind me before leaning over the back of the chair and kissed my cheek. I smiled as she sat down on the arm of the chair; I grabbed her by her waist and pulled her down into my lap.

"Awe, come on guys, spare me," Grover complained covering his eyes. Annabeth and I laughed, though she got the last laugh when she climbed off my lap.

"Who wants breakfast," she asked, clapping her hands together.

"Depends on what you're making," I replied.

"How about blue waffles," she replied leaning down to whisper it in my ear."Please and thank you," I whispered back. Before she walked away I kissed her and Grover groaned again. I picked up an empty tin can and threw it at his head.

"Hey," he complained and threw a couch pillow at me. Annabeth grabbed the pillow and threw it back at Grover before pulling me into the kitchen with her. "I don't want any waffles," Grover called after us.

"Good, cause we weren't going to make you any," I called back. I heard him mutter something but I ignored it and turned my attention to my girlfriend as she got out the supplies.

"Does that mean you're going to help me," she asked looking over her shoulder as she to mix up the batter. I nodded as I walked over and started helping her by stirring as she added ingredients. I kissed her cheek and she turned my head to kiss me.

"Was there flour on your hand," I asked, touching my cheek and finding a white powder on my hand?

"Maybe," she replied, giving me a fake innocent look.

"Do you remember what happens when your naughty," I asked, spinning her around so she facing me. Her eyes grew wide and held her hands up in front of her.

"No, Percy, please," she pleaded, her eyes full of panicky.

"Too late," I said and them I grabbed her and began tickling her sides. She began laughing and after a while she started coughing so I stopped and just held her. "You okay," I asked when she was done."Yeah, no thanks to you," she replied hitting my chest.

"Now, no need for violence," I said grabbing her fist that was hitting me. I gave her a pout face when she continued with her stern look. After a few moments of that she finally smiled and hugged me.

"I'm sorry," she said in a baby voice, looking up at me. I Smiled and kissed her forehead. Suddenly the doorbell rang which made us jump considering we weren't expecting anyone.

"I got it," Grover said running to the front door. "Aphrodite, hello, what can we do for you?" Annabeth stiffened and grabbed a washcloth and wiped the flour off my cheek before the goddess walked into the kitchen.

"Awe, you two never cease to amaze me," she said, smiling widely. I'm not sure if Annabeth's face was redder or if mine was.

"Is there something wrong, Lady Aphrodite," Annabeth asked, stepping away from me.

"Oh, Dionysus informed the council that you and Percy were helping Grover bring a large group of demigods to Camp Half Blood and Poseidon wanted to come out to see you but he still has to rebuild his palace so he asked me too come and check on you," she replied. "Though I'm sure glad I did it looks like you need to go shopping before school starts," she added, clapping her hands together.

"Oh boy," Annabeth muttered under her breath and turned back to the waffle batter.

"Now, hurry and eat breakfast so we can leave," Aphrodite said sitting down at the kitchen table.

About a half an hour later I was driving us all over to the mall. As we walked through the parking lot Grover stopped by a jeep. "This is one of the demigod's cars, I think his name is Kenny," he announced. The jeep was red with a green sticker on the rear window; it had a soccer ball and a soccer cleat on it and said something like 'Cedar City High School Soccer'.

"Is he on the school soccer team," Annabeth asked, examining the sticker.

"Yeah, I think so," Grover replied.

"Can we go shop now, that demigod will be fine," Aphrodite said, leading the way into the mall.

After shopping for two hours Aphrodite finally let us go and find something to eat.

"I never thought I would ever do this much shopping," I complained, sitting down in a plastic chair. "Annabeth, can you get me some food," I pleaded.

"Who would think that it would be shopping that would make you crack," Grover said. "I thought for sure it would be something like Zeus and Ares teaming up on you."

"Don't giving them any ideas, G-man," I said.

"Anyways, you forgot Hades," Annabeth pointed out.

"Hey, I'd like it if I could go at least a year without a god trying to beat me up thank you very much," I exclaimed. Grover cracked up laughing and Annabeth fought back a smile. I frowned and groaned sadly.

"What do you want to eat, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth asked, sweetly. After I gave her my order she and Grover went over to get the food. Once they left someone taped my shoulder. I turned in my chair to see who it was.

"Hi, my name is Rue and I was wondering, are you new here," the girl asked. She had dark brown hair and pale blue eyes; she was wearing a demon jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans.

"Yeah, I am, my name is Percy," I replied, I started getting a feeling that she was one of the demigods that Grover was watching.

"Nice to meet you Percy," she said, she looked like she was going to leave but something stopped her.

"Oh, hi, Rue," I heard Grover say from behind me. "I see you met my pal Percy here."

"Yeah, I just did," she replied, smiling.

"Who are you," Annabeth asked as she set down my food in front of me and sat down beside me.

"Hi, I'm Rue," Rue replied rather quickly. "And you are?"

"The names Annabeth," she replied, taking one of my french fries and eating it.

"Hey, Rue, Kenny and I are heading to Dunhams, you coming," a girl said walking over. She had short brown hair and startling bright brown eyes; she was wearing a sea blue t-shirt with sleeves that barely covered her shoulders and had bubbles in random spots with dark green capris.

"Yeah, just a sec," Rue replied, that's when the girl noticed us.

"Well, hi there, do we have more newbies," she asked Rue.

"Yeah, I don't their gangster like the other ones though," she replied.

"Good, less people for us to worry about," the girl said.

"More like, for you and Kenny to worry about, the gang only tried to beat up you two, Dawn," Rue pointed out.

"Key word, tried, they never would have anyways Kenny had his bow and arrows and I had my cheerleading skills," Dawn retorted.

"What were you going to do, twirl them to death," Grover said.

"If by twirling them to death you mean running them over a bunch of times while twirling then yes, I was going to twirl them to death," she replied, laughing. We all laugh as well till Annabeth pointed out the Aphrodite was on her way over. "I'm Dawn, by the way," she added.

"I'm Annabeth, this is my boyfriend, Percy," Annabeth replied, resting her hand on my knee.

"Well, we better get going, I think Kenny is growing impatient," Rue said, they waved good bye and walked away. I watch them leave my eyes fixed on Rue.

'Something about her is really familiar,' I thought.

"You ready to get back to shopping," Aphrodite asked, cheerfully.

"Haven't we shopped enough for one day," I complained.

"You can never shop too much when I'm around," she replied, crossly. "Now, come on, Aeropostal is next," she added, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the clothing store. Annabeth followed close behind and Grover trudged slowly behind us.

When we were finally done shopping it was about six in the afternoon and I was so tired that Annabeth was practically dragging me to the car, good thing Annabeth was driving home.

"Well, I have to go, I have to go see a curtain demigod," Aphrodite said before snapping her fingers and disappearing in a puff on pink smoke.

"I call shotgun," I said quickly while racing to the passenger side and plopping down in the seat. I handed Annabeth the car keys after she had herself buckled in the driver's seat."Good thing Aphrodite puffed our stuff to the house or we wouldn't be able to get into this car," Grover said when he slide into the back seat.

"And good thing she paid for everything or there would be no way we could buy anything in there," I added as we drove down a busy street.

Annabeth nodded in agreement before something crashed into the car roof. The head of a hellhound appear in the windshield. Annabeth screamed and swerved the car as the hellhound tried to tear off the roof. I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. It grew into a double bladed sword made of celestial bronze with a leather hilt. I rolled down my window a sliced at one of the monster's legs.

"Pull over," Grover bleated, fear filling his voice. The car jerk to the side of the road and nearly threw me out. The hellhound flew out of the roof and rolled onto the ground. We all jumped out of the car just and the dog pounced on it, squashing it like a bug. It spun around to me and growl menacingly as it stalked toward me. I got into a fighting stance and waited for it to charge.

"Behind you," Annabeth called, as she jumped on to the hellhound's back. I turned and found another one towering over me from behind. It growled and I dived away as it snapped its jaws where I used to be.

"Grover," I called, noticing another hellhound standing over him. He looked up and yelped before running away from it and pulling out his pipes in the process. He played a tune and weed started to grow around the hound as it thrash violently. I continued to dodge my hellhound as it continued to try to bite my head off. I swung Riptide at the dog's shoulder and sliced it deeply. The hellhound exploded into yellow powder and blew away in the wind. Grover's hellhound evaporated as well leaving the hellhound Annabeth was fighting.

I turned around, looking for her; she was laying on the ground with the hellhound standing over her. "Annabeth, your cap," I yelled, running up behind the monster. Annabeth pulled out a blue Yankees cap and put it on causing her to disappear. I slashed at the hound's back legs and jump back when it kicked back at me.

"Percy heads up," Annabeth advised, I ducked as I felt her invisible hands grip my shoulders. I felt her fly over my head and saw her hat fly off as she sailed through the air and stabbed her dagger into the monster's side. It exploded into yellow powder with a loud howl.

"I guess Columbus isn't getting its car back," I mutter noticing the flattened car.

"Now we have to walk all the way back," Grover grumbled, sadly.

"How are we going to get to college if we don't have a car," Annabeth pointed out. I groaned at the reminder and I hung my head.

"Maybe Blackjack can give us rides," I suggested, hopeful.

"I don't thing he would enjoy flying here and back two times a day and we don't have the space to make him a stable in the back yard," Annabeth said. "And no way is he living in the house," she added before I could say anything.

"Come on, it's not that long of a walk from here," Grover said as he started walking down the side walk.

"What do you think the mortals saw," Annabeth asked though it sounded like she was mostly asking herself.

"I don't know, maybe they didn't see anything since no one crashed from a spasm," I replied.

"That doesn't mean anything," she pointed out. "Grover, does this town have its own police department?"

"No, if they want the police they have to call the next town over," he replied. "But this town usually takes care of its own problems, they like never call the police unless the town's people can't deal with it themselves, which is really rare I heard."

"Great, so we have to worry about is random people attacking us," I mumbled under my breath. Apparently Annabeth heard me because glared at me.

"I doubt they would do that unless we caused real trouble, which we haven't come close to yet," she said, sternly. I nodded in agreement and followed Grover along ignoring the honking cars. "If I see any of them again, I'm going to mmmmm," Annabeth grumbled as a car drove by with some college girls shouting at me.

"Annabeth, we promised each other that we weren't going to strangle any mortals no matter how annoying they are," I reminded her. She muttered something under her breath to quickly for my ADHD brain to grasp. "What was that, Wise Girl," I asked, slightly curious but mostly to annoy her.

"What, I didn't say anything," she lied, trying to look innocent but I knew her well enough to not believe it.

"Yes you did, I heard you, so spill," I said, grinning. She glared at me for a few moments before she sighed and muttered it again.

To me it sounded like, 'I wish I hadn't and so will you most likely.'

"What was that, I didn't quit hear you," I asked in a mocking voice.

"I said I wish I hadn't and so will you most likely," she snapped.

"That's probably true," I agreed.

"So, can we get rid of the promise," she asked, her eyes pleading.

"No, just wait maybe they will turn out to be monsters," I shrugged.

"Fine," she huffed, I smiled and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. I sighed when I thought about the reason we were here.

'This is going to be a long year,' I thought as we continued to walk down the street to our temporary home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dawn

My alarm clock blared and pierced through my sleep at five thirty in the morning. I groaned and reached my hand up to press the snooze button but instead something slapped my hand away.

"We are not starting the school like last year," a female voice said, sternly. I stared into the darkness of the room as I tried to remember beginning of last school year.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," I groaned as I sat up and stretched.

"Maybe for you it wasn't but for me it as horrible so get up," the voice snapped before turning on the room's main light. I was blinded for a few moments as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. "Now get dressed, Dawn," the voice ordered. The voice belong to a girl about sixteen, she had wavy black hair and small brown eyes. She was wearing a long fuzzy green robe and small green slippers.

"Then leave, Sarah, so I can," I snapped back. She glared at me before she walked out of the room and closed the door. I glanced around the room as I brushes hair out of my face.

The walls were a shade a blue that reminded me of the sea and most of the stuff in the room were different shades on blue and green.

I jumped out of the bed and walked over to the closet that was right beside the door that led to the hall way. Soon I was changed into a sea blue t-shirt that just covered my shoulders, it had detailed bubbles here and there. I also wore dark green capris and plain black boots.

I thought about the last time I wore this outfit. It was a few days before when Kenny Marthon, one of my best friends since sixth grade, decided to take me and Rue to the mall on our day off of work, his day off of soccer, and mine off of cheerleading. We hung out at the mall most of the day talking about how sports and work was going and how school would be starting soon. What I remember most about that day was Rue deciding to go talk to a college student that we have never seen before which is new since we know everyone in town. I think the blond chick said their names were Percy and Annabeth. Grover said that they some friends of his though that really didn't make sense since he was a junior in high school and they looked like college sophomores.

I shuddered when I thought about how when I met them I had the feeling that they weren't human or at least not completely human. Percy sort of reminded me of myself and of someone I knew a long ago that I can barely remember.

I walked out of my bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. Once I was done with the obvious I went to the sink and turned on the foist just so it was slightly dripping. I held my hand under the tap as the water dripped into my palm. It was cold to the touch but it rolled off leaving my hand dry. I felt a serge of energy as the water continued to drip. I curled my fingers slowly and the water started to form a sphere around it.

Yeah, I should probably explain how I can do that. When I was thirteen I had this really bad accident during a vacation to Cedar Point. Let me just put it this way, never ride their water rides when you are in the same car someone that you have seen more than you would like (and I mean someone you don't not family and friends), it is so not fun unless you can breath underwater and have the strength to flip the raft back over before everyone else drowns. When the raft suddenly flipped everyone went into complete terror because we were buckled in and being held under water, oh did I mention that the belts stay locked until the raft returns to the dock. Lucky for me I am extra flexible so I was able to wiggle out of seat and out from under the rafted unfortunately everyone was already drowning by then. Somehow the water responded to my fear for my family because it started churning and eventually the raft flipped back over with my family and the other people coughing and gasping for breath.

Anyways, I used the sphere of water to wash my hands and face. I let the water run down the drain as I reached for the hair brush sitting beside the sink. After a few minutes of brushing through my wild short brown hair I put on some mascara and blush and ran down the stairs.

I walked into the kitchen, the counters all had black marble tops and white cabinets white glass doors that you could see through. There was a counter island in the middle, it had a chopping board and a wireless blender sitting on top along with a plate with chocolate chip pancakes on it. I reached for the plate but someone slapped my hand away and blocked my path. That someone was my dad (or should I say my step dad considering that he wasn't my biological dad), he had short choppy black hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a navy blue factory button down shirt with black jeans and mud brown boots.

"Dawn, you know the rule, no pancakes unless you are all ready for school," he growled, which is completely normal since he always growls at me no matter his mood.

"But I am all ready I just need to brush my teeth after I'm done eating," I pointed out.

"Fine" he growled sending me one last glare before turning and walking away. I smiled a grabbed the plate and set it on the table as I received a glass of milk and silverware.

"Good morning, honey, ready for your first day of school," a women asked as she walked into the room. She had black hair that was pulled back into a navy blue hair scrunchy, she was wearing a green blouse with a baggy neck line and floral knitted lace on the bottom, a light black wrap draped over her shoulders, black dress pants, and black flats that lightly sparkled green.

"Yes, though I wish I wasn't," I replied before stuffing a piece on my pancake into my mouth.

"Oh, you'll get over it, by the way Sarah can't give you a ride, she has to meet Maddie at seven so they can discuss something about JSA," she said resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Fine, I'll see if I can get Kenny or Zane to give me a ride," I said as I finished my pancakes. I grabbed the phone as I sat down on the couch in the living room. I dialed Zane first just to annoy him and Clare.

"Hello," a deep voice said on the phone.

"Hey, Zane, it's Dawn, I was wondering if you could give me a ride to school Sarah had to leave early without informing me," I said.

"Dawn, ask Kenny I have to pick up Clare and Rue, I'm not taking you too. Anyways, I'm sure Kenny wouldn't mind at all," Zane replied before hanging up.

"Rude much," I mumbled before I dialed Kenny.

"Hey, Kenny here, what can I do for you on this fine morning," a cheerful voice answer.

"Well, someone's in a good mood for it being the first day of school," I commented.

"Always, so what can I do for you, Dawn," he asked. "Wait, let me guess, you need a ride."

"You know it, so can you give me one," I asked.

"I'll be there in ten," he said.

"Great, thanks a bunch," I said, happily before hanging up. I jumped up and ran up to my room. I grabbed my iPod touch, cell phone, note books and bag before walking back downstairs and setting them on the couch. I glanced at the clock, 'Kenny will be here in six minutes,' I thought before heading into the kitchen.

"I'm guessing you have a ride since your not already gone," my mother said from the kitchen table.

"Kenny will be here about five minutes," I replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. "By the way, did you wash my cheer leader uniform?"

"Its hanging to the laundry room," she replied taking a sip of her coffee.

"When Sarah comes home for lunch can you ask her to bring it back to school with her. The football team is having a scrimmage with one of the private schools' teams and it's directly after school," I said.

"Sure, oh, Kenny should be here anytime know so go get your stuff and have a nice day, honey."

"Bye and you too," I called as I raced into the living room to grab my stuff, just then some one knocked on the door. I stood in front of it and straightened my cloths and fixed my hair before I opened it to a boy o the other side.

"Ready for school," the boy, or should I say man since he is sixteen, said. He had short messy brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a bright green t-shirt under a navy blue jacket, as well as worn blue jeans and red and black sneakers.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied. I walked past him to the red jeep parked at the curb, the same one he used to take Rue and me to mall. The man jogged past me and opened the passenger door for me. I smiled in thanks as I got in and set my stuff on the floor at my feet.

"So why couldn't Sarah give you a ride," he asked as we started down the street.

"She had to meet a friend before school and didn't warn me," I replied.

"Aw, revenge by the sibling," he commented.

"Part two," I added, holding up two fingers.

"Wait, then what did she do for part one," he asked, giving me a confused look.

"Oh, I never told you, opps. She just stole some of my stuff that contained personal things, by the way, don't believe anything she tells you about me," I replied, giving him a stern look.

"Ohh, does the almighty Dawn Aquaticus Ocean have some secrets that the world shouldn't know," he taunted which he got a whack in the chest in return. "Harsh much, I was just joking," he complained giving me his signature grin. We pulled info the student parking lot and parked near the soccer field, which was a long walk away from the school building.

"Promise me you won't believe anything Sarah tells you unless I tell you it's true," I pleaded, grabbing his arm before he could get out of the jeep.

"Dawn, I promise, just relax, it can't be that bad," he said giving me his smile again.

"You have no idea," I mutter under me breath as I climbed out and grabbed my stuff.

"So how is then water lately," he asked, at first I was confused but then I understood.

"Kenny, you know how it's going," I said giving him a playful smile.

"Prove it," he said with a smirk. I glared at him before I pointed a finger at humans his hair started to look wet. "Ok, ok, I get it, just dry my head," he complained when it started to drip. I smiled and snapped my fingers and the water disappeared.

"Maybe next time you'll remember to listen and not ask questions," I said as we walked into the school.

"Noted," he commented.

"Hey, Dawn, Kenny, over here," someone called from down the hall. We walked over and greeted the group. "How are you two this morning," a girl asked. She had short wavy black hair and pale blue eyes. She was wearing a purple homecoming t-shirt from last year, it read 'CCHS Homecoming 2010 GO CEDARS!' with a picture of cedar tree leaves, she also had on short jean shorts and white and gold sneakers.

"Wet, Clare, very wet," Kenny replied before I could say anything.

"Got hit by the water point again," a man beside Clare said. He was a big and muscular African American with long shaggy black hair and bright green eyes. He was wearing baggy black jeans and a tight dark green t-shirt that showed off his abs.

"I hope you made a note this time," Clare remarked. She giggled as she gave me a high five.

"I defiantly did," he stated.

"Ha, make sure you write it down cause you are going to forget if you don't," the man said with a chuckle.

"Shut it, Zane," Kenny snapped, his body becoming stiff.

"Relax, he is just joking," I said gently resting a hand on his shoulder. Kenny looked at me for a few moments before relaxing and letting out a sigh.

"Ahh, letting her stop you from a fight that means something going on here," Zane said glancing between Kenny and me. I glared at him and Clare punched him in the arm. "Oww," he complained rubbing his arm. "I have a game today don't injure me." I opened my mouth to say how the team would be better without him but someone behind me stopped me before I could.

"If it isn't guppy and hothead," someone growled. I turned and found a group of gang kids. They all had squinty little eyes and big noses. They were wearing leather jackets over dark colored shirts, ripped holy jeans and black biker boots. The one in front of me had brown eyes that were really bright light fire, they had short, greasy, curly black hair. A dark red shirt under her leather jacket with a large 'A', for airhead no doubt.

"What do you want, Ariona," Kenny asked, stepping slightly in front of me. I guess the 'A' wasn't for airhead to bad it fits better.

"Someone didn't heed the warning I gave them," she replied, glaring at me. I returned to the look and started lifting a hand to attack her but Kenny stopped me before I could start. He gave me a look telling that this wasn't the time and place for that unless I want the secret out to the world so I stopped trying.

"Why would I, you're no threat to me," I said.

"You wanna' bet, guppy," she growled, stepping toward us. Before I could do anything Grover appeared between us.

"Its the first day of school so don't go getting suspended already," he said looking at Ariona. She glared at him for a few minutes before turning and leading her gang away.

"You really need to stop letting her get to you, Dawn, it will eventually go to far that we can't stop you from you know what," Kenny said, whispering the last part.

"Then tell her to leave me alone and to stop calling me guppy, why does she even call me that," I replied, confused.

"Don't ask me," he shrugged. I shook my head and turned to Clare and Zane. Suddenly the five minute bell rang signaling that school would start in five minutes.

"We gotta' go, see you guys later," Clare said before dragging Zane away down the hall.

"Latin," I asked Kenny and Grover. They both nodded so we head down the hall to class.


	3. Chapter 3

ATCC chapter 3

Kenny

It's spirit week and the whole town is decorated for the upcoming football game. Ariona and her gang haven't bothered us for awhile, all they do is send us glares.

My cell phone rang with 'Check Yes Or No' by George Strait. I quickly grabbed it while swallowing the last piece of my bacon. "Hello, Kenny here, what can I do for you," I answered.

"Kenny, Sarah bailed again," the caller whined on the other end. I imminently know who it was and sighed with a smile.

"Am I always going to be number two," I asked as I grabbed my book bag and car keys.

"How about if you give me a ride to school for the rest of the week I'll make sure to stay with you the whole game on Friday along with the dance if I have to," she pleaded.

"If you at least dance with me once, my choice, then yes, I will give you a ride the rest of the week," I said with a smirk.

"Deal," she accepted a little to loudly.

"I'll be there in about five minutes," I said before hanging up. I walked out the door after telling my mom I was leaving. Once I was in my jeep I turned up the stereo, which was tuned into 103.7CKY. I sang along with some of the songs happily as I drove over to Dawn's to pick her up. Once I parked she ran out and jumped into the jeep.

"Drive," she ordered as her step dad stepped out the door with his hunting rifle. I put it in drive and gassed it before he could see me.

"What did you do this time," I asked after we were a few blocks away.

"I didn't do anything, he just started yelling at me and said something about I shouldn't be here and that I was soon to be dead meat," she replied, shivering.

"He is starting to sound like Ariona, which is very creepy," I commented, Dawn smiled but it quickly disappeared. "Hey, what's wrong," I asked reaching over to rub her shoulder.

"Things just aren't like they used to be, it was so easy but now," she trailed off.

"Your stuck with a majorly uptight step dad with only friends to watch your back," I finished for her, giving her a hopeful grin.

"Uptight is an understatement," she pointed out with a smirk.

"True, he did look like he was going to shoot us both, you for what ever he thinks you did and me, well, cause I was there," I agreed, pulling into the parking lot. I parked into my usual spot and quickly jumped out. I zipped around the car and opened Dawn's door before she could.

"Well, someone had bacon this morning," she commented as I helped her out of the jeep.

"So what if I did, Its not like when you have chocolate and dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips on top," I remarked.

"At least I don't go completely crazy," she countered.

"That's because your already crazy," I pointed out.

"Aww, your so sweet, Kenny," she said with a big smile. I made a face and she laugh and slipped on a lone pizza box. I grabbed her around her waist before she completely fell on top of me.

"Geeze, someone is clumsy," I teased as I helped gain her balance again.

"Ha ha, very funny," she said sarcastically, smoothing out her cloths after I let her go. My phone started ringing in my pocket in a normal ringing tone so I pulled it out and answered.

"Hello, Kenny here, what can I do for you," I answered.

"Hey, Kenny, it's Rue, is Dawn with you," a girl asked on the other line.

"Yeah, why," I asked looking at Dawn who was watching me curiously.

"Keep her outside I can't explain just don't let her come in," she replied. Then there was a loud crash and a bunch of yelling and screaming. "ZANE! Gotta' go, Kenny, keep out," she yelled before the line went dead.

"Okay, well that was interesting," I muttered sticking the phone back into my pocket.

"What was that about," Dawn asked curiously.

"Umm, Rue said that the school is having some problems so we can't go in," I lied. I knew that if I told her the truth that she would insist on going in to help stop what ever is going on. Suddenly there was a loud bang from the school and students started running out.

"Ok, what is seriously going on," she asked, her hands on her hips and glaring at me.

"I don't know, Rue just said to keep you out of the school," I replied, knowing that I couldn't up the lie now. She ran past me toward the school, I caught up with her right before she was able to open the door. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward me. She lost her balance and fell back on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Let me go," she ordered as she tried to wriggle out of my arms.

"No, there is something in there that Rue doesn't want you getting mixed up with and she is always right," I replied tightening my grip on her.

Her body suddenly start to be covered in freezing cold ice. I gasped at the sudden cold and let her go. Once I did the ice disappeared and she was running down the hall inside of the school. I followed her inside and slowly gained ground but by the time I caught up to her we could see Clare and Rue they were frozen in fear of something. Zane was laying on the ground by the lockers on the wall. When Rue saw us she snapped out of her trance and ran up to us.

"I told you to keep her out," she said, crossly.

"You try to keep a grip on her when she is suddenly covered in ice, it's not easy," I pointed out.

"What's going on," Dawn asked her hands were curled into fists and the air was growing cold.

"I truly have no idea, Ariona and her crew showed up and asked us where you were and when we said that you were most likely with Kenny she flipped. She started yelling at me and Clare so Zane stepped up and started taunting her then after that," she trailed off looking ant Zane and Clare, who was now at Zane's side.

"Where is Ariona, I want to give her a piece of my mind," Dawn growled her eyes looked like they were slightly glowing blue but you could barely tell.

"Why don't you say that to my face," a voice snapped behind us. We turned and saw Ariona and her gang standing there with their arms crossed. Me and Dawn both glared at them though Dawn was the first one to make a move. She stepped forward with her fists still at her sides.

"If you think you can beat up my friends and get away with it, you would be died wrongs," she snarled. I stepped up behind her when Ariona got a look in her eye the said 'you better watch it cause I will kill you this second.'

"You better shut you mouth, guppy, before I send you all to the hell," Ariona snapped. She unfolded her arms a put a hand behind her back. I knew she did something when her crew started to back against the walls and circled around us.

I turned just in time to see one of the to come up behind me and twist my arm against my back. I let out a grunt as I slowly started to lose feeling in that arm. I twisted in their grip, trying to get free. Dawn turned slightly to see what was going on and her eyes widened when she found out. She eyed someone behind me. Suddenly the grip on my arm loosened enough for me to turn and knock down the person who attacked me. I kneed him in the stomach and again in the face.

I saw Rue standing near by watching one of the gang members fall to the ground in pain. I turned to where Dawn was a second ago but she wasn't there now. Ariona suddenly gripped my arm tightly and pushed me into a locker with the combination dial in my back. I winced at the pain but didn't make a sound.

"I'm hungry, Kenny Marthon, and I haven't eaten in forever," she whispered, keeping me pinned to the wall. I looked at her confused, why is she telling me this,' I thought. Suddenly I noticed this weird smell that reminded me of that time Clare and Rue convinced me and Zane to go see the farm animals in the barn at the fair while Dawn was taking care of some things with a couple of dunk tanks.  
I couldn't help but look down when I felt something furry brush my leg. Where Ariona's legs were supposed to be there was a fur donkey leg and a metal one. When I looked back at her face she smiled widely showing her white teeth and fangs. 'Wait, fangs? Since when did she have fangs? I know she is evil and psycho but since when was she a vampire,' I thought completely confused.

"Time to eat," she yelled, her grin widened as she looked me up and down. She licked her lips and leaned forward. I stiffened when I felt her breath on my neck.

"Get away from him," someone yelled. Ariona recoiled but continued to stay close to me.

"Make me, guppy," she growled, blocking my view of the person though I could tell who it was. I struggled against Ariona's grip but she wouldn't budge it was like I wasn't trying. My blood ran cold when I felt something creep along my body starting at my feet. I glanced down and saw a thin sheet of ice creeping up my legs and to my chest and arms. Ariona screeched when ice started creeping onto her hands and up her arms. She jumped back and broke the ice's hold on her but it continued to creep up her arms. The ice on me melted and disappeared. I glanced at Dawn, who was now flat against a locker being held by two guys.

I recognized them from my engineering class. The one that was on Dawn's left was Dylan Cord, he was a mean jerk and was on the football team, he had spiky black hair and dark brown eyes. The one on Dawn's right was Matthew Cord, he was nice but could be rude at times, he had curly brown hair that fell in his eyes a lot.

I ran over to them and hit them both in the head, hard. They both were dazed long enough for me to kick them and pull them away. Dawn opened her mouth to say something but Ariona screeched before she could. I looked over where she was a second ago but she wasn't there anymore. I glanced around and noticed her gang was all gone too.

"Where did they go," Dawn asked, bewildered.

"They just disappeared like they were never here," Rue said, astonished.

"Hey, Clare, how's Zane," I asked as we walked over to were we left her and Zane.

"I think he got a concussion," she replied from beside Zane's body. We all knelt down beside and behind her. "Should we call an ambulance?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Rue replied. "They would want to know what actually happened and there is no way they would listen to us."

"We could make something up," I suggested.

"Like what, he fell down stairs and his text books landed on his big head," Dawn scolded, sarcastically.

"People lie al the time about how they get injuries how is this any different," I pointed out.

"Cause people usually get concussions from things that don't exist," she snapped.

"Ok ok, no need to be snappy, let's get him back to my place," I suggested. "My mom can fix him up." They all nodded so Rue and Dawn got Zane's feet while I carried him by his shoulders. Clare scouted ahead to make sure the coast was clear the while way to my jeep.

Once we got there and got Zane in the back seat Clare and Rue ran off, fighting over who would get the drive Zane's convertible. Dawn rolled her eyes and climbed into the passenger seat as I started the jeep.

"What an eventful day," I said sarcastically.

"Yep, a day no one will forget, for sure," Dawn agreed. "Which reminds me, I need to find a place to stay tonight."

"You're welcome to stay at my place, my mom loves you," I pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," she giggled. "I'm actually hoping I can stay at Clare's," she said.

"What my place to awesome for you to stay," he teased.

"No, my dad has probably already talked to your mom though since I usually go there when we're fighting even before he married my mom," she pointed out.

"Very good point, thou she might let you stay if you give her your side of the story," I said.

"Maybe," she muttered. A few moments later we passed her house. Her step dad was sitting in the yard with his rifle slung over his shoulder. I shuddered a press the gas more as we zipped past. I've seen him shot it once when part of the town was being held hostage in the town court house. I remember the feeling when it zipped between me and Dawn which made me shudder again and glance at her.

She was resting her forehead against the window and her body language said that she was getting the same feeling that I was. We arrived at my house a few minutes later, I pulled into the driveway a left enough room for Zane's convertible.

Dawn instantly went inside and returned with my mom behind her. She had straight blond hair that went down to her waist, she was wearing a plaid black button up shirt the was only buttoned up half way revealing her white tank top. She also had on a pair of her old sweat pants that had a bunch of rips and tares.

"What's going on, the school called and said something about a gang attack," she asked, her voice and eyes full of worry.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Rue said as she climbed out of Zane's car.

"You all will explain after we get Zane conscious," she said sternly then she pointed at me. "Get the stretcher, Kenny," she ordered. I nodded and signaled Dawn to come with me. I led the way into the house to a closet user the stairs. I pulled out a long red wooden board and passed it to her. She took it and waited for me to climb back out of the closet. When we got back outside I helped my mom and Dawn get Zane onto it and back inside to the living room. Clare laid out a blanket and a few pillows for us to lay him on.

"Kenny, get a couple towels and a damp wash rag. Dawn, fill a bowl with hot water and get the ice pack out of the freezer," my mom said. Dawn went out to the kitchen and I went to one of our bathrooms. I grabbed a small stack of towels and got a rag slightly damp. We returned to the living room and I handed the rag to my mom and put the towels on the floor beside her. Dawn put the bowl and ice pack on her other side.

"Hey, you haven't talk to my step dad at all have you," Dawn asked, hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, I have and I want to hear your side of the story since he has a reputation of lying about things like this. For now you can crash in the guest bedroom, Kenny go help her set up the bed, Rue, can you call Zane's mom and tell her what 'happened'," she said as she uses to rag on Zane's forehead.

"Alright," Rue said.

"Thanks, Ms. Marthon," Dawn said gratefully.

"Dawn how many do I have to tell you, call me Stephany," my mom groaned, playfully.

"Thanks, Stephany," Dawn corrected herself before heading up the stairs. I followed her up and into a room that only had a bed and an empty dresser with a flat screen sitting on top.

"I never understood why mom put the flat screen in here when you are the only one who uses the room," I said as I opened a closet and pulled out the bed sheets.

"Because she thinks that I deserve the best because when I use this room Mr. Uptight is having issues," she replied, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Right," I said, rolling my eyes. I threw a pillow at her and then put the blankets on the bed.  
"You really want start that," she asked in teasing voice. I stuck my tongue out at her and she threw the pillow back at me, hitting me in the head. I laughed and threw a blanket over her head. She pulled it off and glared at me, her hair was completely messed up. I laughed even harder as her face started to turn red.

"Shut up," she snapped as she started to tame her hair.

"I didn't say anything though," I said, trying to stop my laughter.

"You were thinking it," she growled, glaring at me. I stuck out my tongue again and ran out of the room before she could do anything to me. I ran into my bedroom which was a yellow-orange like the sun. I closed my door and fell onto my bed.

A few moments later she burst into the room and when she saw the floor she showed disgust. I followed her gaze and noticed a pair of my blue boxers and the floor. I jumped up and grabbed them and threw them in the laundry hamper before she could comment. I laid back down on my bed with my hands behind my head.

"If you're here to torment me you fail," I said.

"Says you," she said with her hands on her hips. I smirked as she sat down on the edge if the bed beside my shoulder.

"Do you know how many people would like to be me at this moment," I asked with the smirk on my face.

"Don't remind me, remember freshmen year when Brandon thought we were going out so he torment the living hell out you," she commented with a small smile.

"Good thing he moved 'cause if he was still here you would have-," she put a hand over my mouth before I could finish. She had a pained look in her eyes as she looked out the window. I gently moved her hand and sat up beside her. Outside her step dad and sister was arguing with my mom and Rue. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on my shoulder.

"Umm, Dawn, your step dad is threatening to shot Rue if you don't go home," Clare said walking into the room. Dawn got up and grabbed Clare's wrist and mine and dragged us outside with her as she muttered curse under her breath.

When we were outside her step dad pointed his rifle at me. I intently put my hands up in surrender and Dawn step in front of me with a murderous look. I braced myself to stop Dawn from using her powers or someone getting shot.

"What is you problem? Why do you have to screw with my life? It was way better when you weren't around," Dawn growled, her hands curled into fists.

"We are going home, NOW," he growled, fiacre then usual. Dawn didn't move, she was completely still. Rue and Clare moved forward blocking him off when he tried to grab at her.

"She doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to, you're not even her real dad," Clare said, with her arms crossed over her chest. I walked up beside them with my arms crossed as well. His gun moved with me when I moved though that didn't phase me.

"Dawn can make her own choices and that includes where she can stay," I said, glaring at him. He growled and muttered something in a different language before turning and marching away. When he and Sarah were gone Dawn let out a sigh of relief.

"Dawn you are always welcome here, remember that even if no one is home you can let yourself right in," Stephany said, wrapping her arms around Dawn's shoulders.

"Same at my place," Clare chimed in.

"Mine too," Rue added.

"Thanks guys, I couldn't get through this without you," Dawn said, a small tear rolling down her cheek.

"Aww, group hug," Clare said before wrapping her arms around Dawn. Rue joined in and they all looked at me.

"Sorry but I don't do group hugs," I said raising my hands in defense. They all let go of Dawn and stepped away from her. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I smiled slightly and wrapped mine around her waist. Her hair and skin smelled like flowers with a hint of sea breeze.

"What's going on out here," a voice asked from the front door. We all turned to see who it was and Zane was standing in the door way, confused.

"Zane," Clare squealed and ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Whoa there, Clare, he isn't in the condition for your hugs yet," Rue joked.

"When is he ever in that condition," I asked, sarcastically. Clare and Zane just glared at me and the rest of us laughed.

"Come on, everyone inside, I'll make lunch and you can tell me about your morning," my mom said so we all headed inside.


	4. Chapter 4

ATCC chapter 4

Annabeth

I shifted slightly as something poked me in side. It poked me again so I turned to Percy beside. He had a newly sharpened pencil in his hand and a grin on his face. I glared at him before turning my attention back to the professor below that was giving us a lecture on the cells of a bull.

After a few moments he poked me again. I looked at him and he slid a paper onto my desk. It was written in ancient Greek so no one else could read it. 'Do you think he's a monster?' it said. 'Who?' I wrote before passing it back. 'Step dad' he replied. 'It's possible, we will have to make sure we keep an eye on him,' I replied. That was end of the conversation for now.

After class we went out to the college courtyard. "What if he kills her before we can get him," I said, breaking the silence

"Don't worry Grover will inform us if anything happens," he replied, kissing my forehead. I smiled up at him and sat down in the soft grass. He sat beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I laid my head on his shoulder and he stroked my hair. Suddenly something shimmered in front of us and showed Grover in our back yard.

"Thank the gods your alone," he sighed.

"Grover, what's up man," Percy asked. I leaned forward so I could get a better view of the Iris message. Grover looked frantic, his curly hair was filled twigs and hedge needles and his shirt was falling over one shoulder.

"Dawn is in way more danger then we think," he replied. "Her step dad is a Laistrygonian giant."

"That's not good," I muttered. "We need to extract her."

"Can you guys come back," he asked.

"Its not easy to sneak off campus on foot," Percy said and I nodded in agreement.

"Just do it," Grover insisted before disconnecting the message.

"Lets go, Seaweed Brain," I said even though I knew we were going to get suspended for leaving without an excuse. We ran across the yard and to the gates. We easily scaled over the fence and onto the grass on the other side. From there we had to walk all the way across the small town.

When we got home Grover greeted us at the door with an urgent look on his face. He motioned us to follow him. He led us into the living room, in the middle of the room was a shimmering mist that showed Chiron and Mr. D.

"Mr. D, Chiron, their here," Grover said. The boys sat down on the couch and I sat on the couch arm beside Percy.

"Good, we have important information for all of you," Chiron said.

"What is it," I asked and Percy leaned forward showing more interest.

"The council has ordered for the 'special' demigod to be brought Camp Half-Blood imminently," he replied. "Do whatever it takes even if you have to knock her out or completely lie to her or even kidnap her just bring her to camp."

"Got it, we'll get her there as fast as we can," Percy said. Chiron nodded and disconnected the message and we all sighed. "So who wants to tell her she has to leave everything behind," he said looking between me and Grover. We both looked at him and then they looked at me.

"What, I'm not going to tare her away from her family," I objected.

"Come on, Wise Girl, besides of all of us your the most convincing and you can explain the whole Greek gods better," Percy insisted, giving me a poutty face.

"No, I have done it to too many demigods already, it's your turn, Seaweed Brain," I said, pointing at him.

"No, I did it last time," he protested. I glanced at Grover who just shrugged.

"Fine," I sighed. "Tomorrow though," I added before I went upstairs to my room. When fell onto my bed pulled out my dagger.

"'Still miss Luke," someone asked from the door. Looked up at Percy as he leaned in the doorway.

"His half brother isn't helping either," I huffed.

"Hey, Luke jr. is cool, and so is his twin," he said.

"I agree, their cool but Junior looks to much like Luke," I said.

"Why do you think everyone that knew Luke calls him Junior, even Mr. D and his dad calls him Junior," he replied walking over to the bed.

"At least he has his twin to lean on unlike Luke," I murmured.

"You know they kind of remind me of the Stoll brothers," he said thoughtfully as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"At least they don't pull pranks all the time and they don't always smuggle stuff into camp," I said, sitting up beside him.

"But when they smuggle things in it's stuff like ice cream and coke and chocolate and," he rambled. I kissed his cheek to shut him up and it worked. "What was that for," he asked, looking at me confused.

"To get you to shut up, Seaweed Brain," I replied. He smirked and kiss my cheek before jumping up and ran to his room. I rolled my eyes and laughed. I followed him and fell onto his bed beside him. He turned on the tv and I laid my head on his chest. He rubbed circles on the small of my back and kissed the top of my head.

We flipped back and forth between a NCIS marathon and music video count down. We hummed or sang along with some of the songs.

"The neighbor did it," I said when we flipped back to NCIS.

"How can you tell," Percy asked.

"He was there at both scenes and he is giving a lot of information about that one guy," I replied. ((This is for a fact a real episode I just forget what it's called...))

"You have seen this one before," he concluded.

"Have not, I haven't even seen NCIS if forever," I said, propping myself up.

"Sure, Wise Girl," he said, sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and put my back to him. He rapped an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"Suck up," I muttered and he gave me a poutty face. I rolled my eyes and relaxed against his body. "We should get back to our classes," I murmured.

"If Grover doesn't have to go to school neither do we," he replied, kissing my cheek. Then Grover burst into the room, when he saw us he covered his eyes.

"Oww, my eyes," he exclaimed, dramatically. Percy and I rolled our eyes and sat up.

"What is it, Grover," I asked slightly irritated.

"We need to get her now, the Laistrygonian giant is getting reckless," he said, removing his hands.

"I thought she was staying at Kenny's place," Percy said, confused.

"That's true but he just went off on her like a half an hour ago," he said. "when he was alone he started talking to himself about how he was going to take her, and whoever got in his way, down."

"What about the other demigods, they are in danger too," Percy pointed out.

"We can't risk taking them all with us especially when the gods have ordered for us to get her to camp quickly and safely," I replied, and Grover nodded in agreement.

"Ok, but how are we getting her without getting noticed and or taking to long to convince her to leave her life behind," he asked grabbing Riptide, in pen form, in his hand.

"Grover, do you know any tunes that could knock her out long enough for us to get out of here," I asked.

"As far as I know there isn't one," he replied.

"Di immortals, what else can we do," I said.

"I guess we are going to have to convince her or knock her out the old fashion way," Grover said with a shag.

"Alright, let's go get the 'special' teen. What's her name again," Percy asked.

"Dawn, Seaweed Brain, her name is Dawn," I said with my hands on my hips.

"Right, I knew that," he said sarcastically. "Now let's go before all Hades breaks loss," he added before he started to pack his stuff to go back to camp. Grover and I went to our rooms and did the same. We threw our bags into the trunk of a SUV that Grover manage to get and climbed in with Grover driving and Percy in the passenger sets which meant I was in back.

"To Kenny's," Grover asked me.

"We should take care of her 'step dad' first so he won't cause problems for the others," I said glancing at Percy.

"I got him," he said pulling out Riptide and holding a hand over the new watch that Tyson made him the transformed into a shield.

"Percy, your not taking him alone, he has a celestial bronze enforced rifle there is no way you can take him alone," I pointed out.

"I'll be fine, Annabeth, beside I'm invulnerable, remember," he said raising an eye brow. I opened my mouth to protest but just sighed knowing he was right for once. He smiled and leaned over to give me a quick kiss before jumping out of the car.

"If we don't show up when your done with it then start walking to Kenny's, we'll watch for you," Grover said while I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Got it, Good luck," Percy said.

"Good luck to you too," I yelled to him as he started walking to Dawn's house where her 'step dad' should be. Grover started the car and began the drive to Kenny's house as I silently prayed to the gods to keep Percy alive.


	5. Chapter 5

ATCC chapter 5

Dawn

I flipped though a magazine about dolphins and sigh from boredom. "I've read this like twenty times now," I muttered, throwing it across the room. I fell back against the pillows and stared at the cyling.

"Hey, Dawn, mom wants to know what you want for supper," Kenny said when his head appeared in the door way.

"How about fried chicken with some corn or mashed potatoes on the side," I replied.

"White meat or dark meat," he asked.

"Umm, I'm in the mood for dark meat," I replied. I held a finger up and water appeared spinning around it.

"Alright, show off," he said before disappearing again. I rolled my eyes and watched the water twirl and spin in the air. I sighed again and the water disappeared. I grabbed the TV remote and was about to turn on the TV when something knocked on the window. I got up cautiously and over to the window.

"Grover," I said surprised as I opened the window. "What are you doing here and how did you know I was here?"

"Long story, happy I'm not explaining it," he replied as he climbed in.

"Shut up, Grover, before I make you explain it instead," another voice said from outside the window. Then Annabeth appeared, I faintly remembered her from when I saw her at the mall. "Hi Dawn," she said when she saw me.

"Where's your boyfriend," I asked curiously.

"He is taking care of a little problem we'll see him later," she replied. "Anyways, we have a lot to talk about that doesn't include him."

"Like what," I asked, confused.

"Umm, where should I start," she muttered, scratched the back of her head.

"I know how," Grover said with a grin on his face.

"Grover, you are not taking your pants off yet," she said, glaring at him.

"Aww come on, it's going to stink in here if you don't let me," he complained.

"Whoa, back up, why is Grover going to take off his pants," I asked, completely confused.

"Longer story," she said.

"Wait, I thought it was part of the long story," Grover said, confused.

"We discussed this on the way here," Annabeth snapped.

"No, we discussed your worry for Percy," he pointed out.

"After that," she growled, glaring at him.

"Can you just get to the point on why your here," I said, interrupting their argument.

"Okay, do you know the Greek gods," she asked.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything," I asked, even more confused, if that's possible.

"Everything," Grover replied, getting a glare from Annabeth.

"Their still alive," she said.

"That's not possible, they were never real," I said, and then there was a roll of thunder.

"That's the best thing to say, it makes all the gods mad," she pointed out.

"Especially Zeus," Grover added.

"I don't see the problem, everyone thinks that they were just something that the Greeks made up," I shrugged.

"Mortals are an exception, their minds can't process the fact that their real," Grover said.

"What are you saying," I asked, growing angry, they basically called everyone stupid.

"You're not mortal, well not completely," Annabeth pointed out. "Half-human, half-god, also known as demigods."

"What are you talking about," I asked, sternly.

"Grover, take off your pants," Annabeth said waving a hand in his direction and looked away. I went wide eyed when his pants fell to the floor revealing goat legs.

"I'm hallucinating, I have to be," I muttered, sitting on the bed.

"I'm a satyr, like from the Greek myths," he said, kicking off his shoes revealing hooves.

"Okay, I believe you just put your pants and shoes back on before I get sick on you," I complain, putting a hand over my mouth.

"Okay, okay, their on," he said after a few moments.

"Thank you," I sighed in relief. "Now you might want to get out before Kenny comes back, he most likely get mad at you as well as me."

"Hey, we're not done, you can't stay here," Grover said.

"Pardon," I asked, confused.

"You can't stay here, it's not safe for you here your scent will attract more monster," Annabeth said.

"See if I care I can take care of myself," I huffed.

"Maybe but can you take care of your friends too," she asked. "If you stay here they will get attacked like at your school."

"If I go their going with me," I said, crossing my arms.

"They can't come now we will send some satyrs to get them be they can't come now, I'm sorry," Annabeth said.

"You said that their in danger so why can't they come it doesn't make sense," I pointed out.

"Okay, here's the deal, we have orders from the god council to take you to Camp Half-Blood eminently," she said, sternly.

"Okay, but I'm not going unless my friends come with me," I said, standing up with my hands on my hips.

"It's not that simple," she snapped. "Either you come willingly or we'll do it the hard way."

"You don't want us to do it the hard way, trust me," Grover added. I tightened my jaw thinking of a way to retort when I heard Kenny yell up the stairs as he thumped up them.

"Dawn, supper will be done soon," he called. I smirked as Grover and Annabeth climbed out the window.

"We will be back and get you to camp," Annabeth said before disappearing.

"Dawn, did you hear me," Kenny asked walking into the room.

"Yeah, duh," I said before racing him down the stairs to the kitchen. Of course he won but that's not the point, when we entered the kitchen Stepheny glared at us.

"You two sound like a herd of buffalo every time you do that," she said.

"Hey, Kenny is the one who sounds like a herd of buffalo I am as silent as a fish," I retorted, pour myself a glass of grape juice.

"Fish don't even make noise," Kenny pointed out.

"Exactly," I said, grinning. His mom just laughed and put our plates in the table. "Besides I am in gymnastics so I'm pretty graceful unlike some people," I added looking at Kenny.

"Don't look at me like that, anyways, I'm run faster then you," he pointed out.

"I ice skate better then you," I retorted.

"Which reminds me, there is an open skate at the rink in Gringland," Stepheny said, butting into the conversation.

"Really, we should go," I said happily. "Right, Kenny?"

"Sounds fun, I can call Zane and Rue to see if they want to go," he replied, taking a bite from his last chicken leg. ((I can practically smell the chicken now =^.^)

"Clare should be with Zane, she said that she was spending the night at his place since his mom, dad, and sister are in Columbus," I said, he nodded before getting up and throwing away the bones and putting his plate in the sink. I followed suit and followed him upstairs to his room to get his phone.

"Dialing Zane," he said as he pressed a few buttons.

"Speaker, please," I asked giving him a pleading grin. He rolled his eyes and held the phone between us so we could hear it ringing.

"Hello, Zane's phone," Zane answered on the other end.

"Hey, Zane is Clare there," Kenny asked.

"Yeah, you're going speaker," he replied.

"Hola, señor," Clare said.

"Hey, Clare," I said, cheerfully.

"Oh, hi Dawn, what's up," she asked.

"The ice rink in Gringland is have an open skate today, want to come with us," Kenny asked.

"Sounds fun is Rue going," Clare asked.

"We're calling her next," I replied.

"Zane, are up to ice skating," Kenny asked.

"'Course man," Zane replied.

"'Kay, meet us there at about seven thirty," I said and Kenny hung up before they could confirm. "That was rude," I retorted with my hands on my hips.

"Hey, he does it to me all the time," he pointed out.

"It's still not nice," I said, poking his chest. He just gave me a grin before dialing up Rue.

"Hello," she answered.

"'Ello, Rue Simetra, would you like to join Zane, Clare, Dawn, and me when we go to the Gringland open ice skate at seven," Kenny asked with a British accent. I laugh and so did Rue before she replied.

"Sure thing, text me when your on your way to get me," she replied before hanging up.

"She hung up on me," Kenny muttered.

"Karma," I said before walking out of the room.

"Let's not get started on that again, Bubbles," Kenny yelled after me.

"Don't you darn call me Bubbles again if you know what's good for you, Arrow Head," I yelled back before walking into the bathroom. I cleaned my face and brushed my hair and other things before emerging again at seven o'clock on the dot.

"Come on, Dawn, we need to leave," Kenny called up the stairs.

"I'm coming, just hold your horses," I called back as I walked down the stairs.

"I would if I had some," he said with a smirk.

"No Kenny, you may not have a horse," his mom called from the living room.

"Darn it," he muttered, hanging his head. I laughed and steered him out to the jeep. We climbed in and picked up Rue before heading to the ice rink.

When we got there we found Zane and Clare near the door.

"Hey, about time you got here," Zane said when he saw us.

"I blame Dawn, she was the one that took forever," Kenny said.

"Hey, we left at seven so you can stop complaining," I protested, slapping his shoulder.

"Hey," he complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"Can we just go inside now before they actually start killing each other," Rue asked. Kenny and I glared at her and went inside. After we paid to rent skates and got them on we headed to the ice.

"Help," Kenny asked when he fell when he stepped onto the ice. I laughed and skated over to him and held out a hand. Then someone bumped into my side. I side back some and turned to who ever it was.

"Sorry, guppy, but you need to watch where your going next time," Ariona said, with a smirk.

"I'm not the one trying to eat people," I snapped remembering the incident at school. She just glared at me and skated away.

"If she tries to eat me again, you can make her a Arionasicle," Kenny said as I helped him up.

"Will do," I replies, giving him a thumbs up.

"Try not make me a Kennysicle in the process though," he added.

"No promises," I replied with a playful grin. He glared at me as I slowly side backwards. I stuck out my tongue before turning and skating away when Kenny came at me. We skated around for about fifteen minutes when we spotted Clare and Zane skating over to us.

"Have you seen Rue, we can't find her anywhere," Clare said, worried.

"No, did you check the bathroom," I asked.

"We've looked everywhere," Zane said. Kenny and I exchanged looks and probably thinking the same thing.

"We need to find Ariona," he said. Yep, we were thinking the same thing.

"Wait, she's here," Zane asked, looking around.

"No rematches," Clare said, sternly. "We can't deal with you getting another concussion."

"Fine," he sighed.

"We ran into her earlier," Kenny said, changing the subject back.

"You mean she ran into me," I corrected him. He just waved his hand and ignored me.

"Anyways, we find her we may find Rue," he continued. We all nodded and skated over to the exit. We gave back our skates and headed outside. It was starting to get dark and we could here police sirens in the distance.

"We'll go see if she is around back," I said before pulling Kenny with me around the building. We heard a faint growl as we neared to back and we creped up and around the corner. Rue was sitting on the ground with a scratch on her arm and cheek and Ariona was standing over her along with two gigantic mastiffs the size of short school bus.

"Surrender, demigod, or I'll let my pals here finish you off," Ariona growled. Rue didn't reply she just glanced to either side till she spotted us, unfortunately so did one of the mastiffs. It barked and started walking toward us. We flattened ourselves to the wall and exchanged looks.

"You distract them with your water powers I'll get Rue," Kenny whispered. I hesitated but nodded just as the mastiff appeared around the corner and growled, baring its teeth. I gasped and took a step back in surprise.

"What's wrong," Ariona's voice called. That knocked me out of my daze in time to raise a hand before it attacked. Ice wrapped its jaws shut and froze its paws to the ground. A growl rumbled in the back of its throat as it thrashed its head around and tried pulling its paws free.

"Whose there," Ariona growled, coming into view. "Guppy, about time you showed up," she growled when she saw me.

"Nice to see you too, Robot Goat," I snapped. She glared at me and whistled. I looked at her confused but then something hit me in the back, knocking me to the ground.

"Dawn," someone yelled from around the corner. Something gripped my wrists harshly and pulled me to my feet. I spun around quickly and kicked them in the stomach. They let out a grunt and stumbled backward, I couldn't see who it was because it was to dark so you could only silhouette.

"Rue, go get Zane and Clare and then treat yourself with the first aid kit in my jeep," I heard Kenny say and then footsteps running around the other side of the building.

"Guys, their over here," someone yelled from the building roof. We all looked up at a silhouette leaning over the edge of the building. Two other silhouette appeared beside the first, one was holding a sword and the other had a dagger.

"Oh no, interference by the useless," Ariona growled, her footsteps slowly descending.

"No, this is fair, Ariona," a female voice replied, then I realized it was Annabeth and Grover. "Percy."

"Gladly," the third silhouette said before jumping off the roof onto the mastiff that just broke free of the ice. It howled and exploded into a yellow powder, revealing the other one behind it. The person dropped to the ground in front of me. "Hey, Dawn," he said with a smile before run to the last mastiff. I recognized him as Annabeth's boyfriend, Percy.

"Look out below," Annabeth called as she jumped down behind me and Grover beside me.

"You followed me," I said.

"Yeah, but be glad we did or you would probably be dead," Grover said.

"I can take care of myself," I snapped.

"Hardly, you didn't even notice that Rue was missing till Clare and Zane told you," Annabeth pointed out. There was a loud howl and yellow powder filled the air. Percy, Clare, Zane, and Kenny ran over a few moments later.

"You believe them now? It's not safe for you to stay here anymore," Percy said.

"I can stinken take care of myself, I don't need to go any where but home," I snapped, walking toward the front of the building where the cars were.

"You can't seriously believe that? You lived with a monster for most of your life," Annabeth called after me.

"See if I care who ever it was never attacked me so I don't care," I yelled.

"He was planning on killing you tonight, your lucky Percy got to him when he did," Grover said, grabbing my shoulder. I jerked out of his grip and held up a hand and he became covered in ice.

"Dawn, that's uncalled for," Clare said, stepping toward me.

"Sorry, but people need to learn the meaning of no," I replied, hastily.

"Defrost him before I behead you," Percy snapped, suddenly appearing in front of me with his sword at my throat.

"Behead me and he'll never defrost," I pointed out, glaring at him.

"Dawn, just defrost him," Kenny said resting a hand on my shoulder and glaring at Percy. I glared at him as I raised a hand and the ice on Grover melted and evaporated. He gasped and fell to his knees and Annabeth came up beside him. Percy lowered his sword but stood his ground in front of me.

"What is this about her needing to leave," Kenny asked, cutting into the silence.

"They think that the ancient Greek gods are real and ordered them to take me to this camp," I replied and thundered and it began to rain.

"You are really making Zeus mad, I think he hates you more then he hates Percy, now," Annabeth said.

"Cool, that means I'm not at the top of his want to send to Tartarus list," Percy commented.

"Okay, how in the world could the Greek gods still be a live," Zane asked, confused.

"Their immortal, they can't die, they move with western civilization. They started in Greece then Rome and so on, then from England here to the United States," Annabeth answered.

"You couldn't have told me that earlier, it would have helped," I said with my hands on my hips. "But I'm still not going without my friends."

"Okay, here is the deal, since you all know about the Greek gods, except for Rue, it's not safe for any of you now," Grover said. "Your scent is to strong, you'll attract to many monsters."

"Okay, so that means they have to come along," I concluded.

"Two cars are needed," Percy said, holding up two fingers.

"We can use my jeep it's bigger then Zane's convertible," Kenny offered.

"Wait, you guys are actually willing to go," I said, surprised.

"Well, yeah, I already came close to dieing, I don't want it to happen again," Zane said and Clare and Kenny nodded in agreement.

"No promises it won't happen again but at camp you will learn how to defend yourself from monster attacks," Grover said.

"And until we get you there, you have the camps top monster killers and the Lord of the Wild to defend you," Percy added stepping over to Annabeth and Grover.

"Umm, do we get to pack or do we get cloths at camp," Clare asked. Suddenly their was a loud screech in the distance and Annabeth turned to Percy.

"You forgot to get the empousia didn't you," she said.

"Couldn't find her after I took care of the hellhound," he replied.

"You'll have to get them on the way to camp or wait till we get there, but right now we need to get out of here," she said, motioning us to follow her as she started running along the side of the building toward the front.

"What was the screech," Zane asked as we ran along beside her.

"She just called reinforcement which means more monsters are coming," she replied. "Grover, drive the jeep, Clare and Zane can ride with you and explain what's going on. Dawn and Kenny you're in the mini van with me and Percy," she instructed and Kenny tossed Grover the keys to the jeep.

"This way," Percy said leading the way to a mini van. Kenny and I jumped into the back while Percy drove and Annabeth got shotgun. "Road trip," Percy said as we pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the highway with Grover right behind us. I pulled out my iPod touch and turned it on and I shared the ear buds with Kenny.

"This is going to be a long trip," I yawned leaning on his shoulder.

"It sure is," he agreed leaning against the window beside him and we both drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

ATCC chapter 6

Kenny

I was standing in a clearing in the middle of a forest. The sun was bright and just overhead. When I looked at it again it looked like it was getting closer. I tried to move but all I could do was close my eyes a be prepared to be turned to ashes. My body grew warm and I could see light even with my eyes closed. When the light died down I opened my eyes and noticed that I wasn't a pile of ashes on the ground.

"Kenny Marthon," a voice behind me said. I was finally able to move so I turned to the person that the voice belongs to. The boy looked about seventeen or eighteen, he had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, blue worn jeans, loafers, and a pair of black sunglasses.

"Should I know you," I asked, glancing at the red Maserati behind him.

"Well, not yet I suppose though you should now, want to take a guess," the boy replied, taking off his sunglasses and holding out his arms.

"Ummm, does it have anything to do with the whole Greek gods being real," I asked, confused.

"Well, duh," he replied sticking a tooth pick in his mouth, though I have no idea where it came from.

"Ok, ummm," I mumbled. I thought about how the sun reacted before he appeared and his appearance and how they related to any of the Greek gods that I learned in Latin class. "Apollo?"

"The one and only," he grinned, putting his sun glasses back on. "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get to the main event."

"And that would be?"

"Why I'm here, come on stick with the program, Kenny."

"Sorry but I'm in shock at the moment."

"Well then someone needs to take a breather," Apollo chuckled. I took a deep breath and when I released it and looked back at Apollo he was holding a pocket knife in his hand. "Think fast," he said, tossing it to me. My hand flashed up and snatched it out of the air.

"What is this for," I asked, examining the knife.

"Flip out the blade," he said. I looked at him confused and did as he said. When I flipped out the blade and it began to glow for a millisecond. It was now a beautiful bow that had a blue grip and it had swirls and suns etched into the body. I felt weight on my right shoulder so I glanced back and noticed a quiver full of green feathered arrows appear across my back.

"Whoa," was all I could say.

"Try it out shot and arrow," Apollo said and waved his hand and several targets appeared around the edge of the clearing. Cautiously, I grabbed an arrow at shot at a target, hitting one of the blue rings. I smiled at how easy it was for me to use this bow when it usually took me a while to get used to any bow in the past. I continued to shot at all the targets and got a bull's-eye on most of them.

"Sweet, this bow is better than any one that I've ever used," I said, examining the bow.

"Good 'cause it's yours," Apollo said. I looked over at him in shock and he just grinned.

"Are you serious," I asked, surprised.

"Yes I'm serious, now toss the bow in the air," he instructed. I did so and in midair the bow changed back into the pocket knife and the quiver on my back disappeared.

"Sweet," I said after I caught the pocket knife. "How does it do that?"

"Magic, of course, how else," he replied. "Now the arrows return to the quiver when the bow is changed back into a pocket knife and the quiver only appears when the bow is in it's original form." when he said that I looked at the targets and noticed the arrows were gone though the damage was still there. I grinned, I was so loving demigod life right now. "Now return to your friends and don't loss that bow or I'll be very upset." I nodded and my vision became cloudy. My eyes closed involuntarily when I opened then again I was being shaken by Dawn.

"About time you woke up, we're at a rest stop to eat and anything else you need to do," she said when I sat up and pushed her away. I yawned a reply and we climbed out of the SUV. We went into the rest stop building and found Clare, Rue, Zane, Annabeth, Percy, and Grover by the vending machines.

"So you finally decided to join us," Zane said with a smirk. I know exactly what he was getting at so I glared at him and shook my head in annoyance. He chuckled and went back to his conversation with Clare, who was exchanging looks with Dawn and Rue. I went to the bathroom and when I came out I remembered my dream so I reached into my pockets and pulled out a pocket knife that resembled the one Apollo gave me. When I looked over at the group Annabeth and Grover were looking at me curiously. I walked over to them with the knife still in my hand.

"What," I asked.

"Where did you get that," Grover asked pointing to the knife.

"Oh, I uhh got it from Apollo in a dream," I replied, hesitantly.

"Magic," Annabeth asked.

"Changes into a bow and a quiver appears on my back," I replied. They nodded and Percy walked over and yawned.

"Get some sleep, you two, we still have a long drive ahead of us," Annabeth said, pointing to Percy and Grover. They nodded and headed back to the cars.

"Hey, Kenny, are there still cokes still in that cooler in the back of the jeep," Zane asked.

"Yay, along with water and Gatorade," I replied. He grinned and went out to the jeep. When he came back he had three waters, two cokes, and a Gatorade, he gave Dawn, Rue, and Annabeth the waters, tossed me the Gatorade, and handed Clare a coke and took a drink from his.

We stayed silent except for Clare's occasional giggle when Zane made some random face to lighten the mood. Suddenly there was a throaty huff like someone was trying to cough up something and the ground rumbled slightly. Annabeth stiffen and handed Rue her water and motioned for me to follow her outside. We scaled around to the back of the building, Annabeth held out a hand for me to stop and be quiet. She pulled out and dagger from ankle and motion for me to get out my bow. I pulled the pocket knife from my pocket and flipped out the blade, it transformed into a bow and the quiver full of arrows appeared on my back.

Annabeth started creeping into the woods that was left standing around the rest stop. I heard the throaty huff again and the ground rumbled with more force then the first. I stiffened when I saw something move through the trees toward us.

"Move," she ordered as she slipped behind a bush, I moved behind a tree as the thing started to come into better view. It was a lion, well, sort of, it had the body of a lion but it had a scorpion tail that had multiple thorns and it also had the face of a human. It looked in my direction and I held my breath as I flattened myself to the tree. Something else appeared behind the first but this one was way larger. It was big, beefy, and hairy and looked like a bull, especially with the horns. It had a bronze nose ring and was dressed in bronze armor. I continued to hold my breath as it started to move my way. I quickly pulled out an arrow and readied my bow and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. The first looked me in the eye and raised it's tail, pointing it at my chest. Annabeth jumped out of the bushes behind it and attempted to cut off it's tail but the bull plucked her out of the air. She stabbed his beefy hand with her dagger.  
He roared in pain and dropped her to the ground. She rolled and jumped to her feet and nodded to me and pointed to the lion thing. I aimed for it's neck as it focuses on her. The arrow imbedded itself in it's shoulder and the next one I shot hit it's neck. It roared and turned to me, forgetting about Annabeth. It was about to shot it's thorn things at me but Annabeth managed to cut it's tail. It let out one last roar before exploding into a yellow powder.

"Kenny, behind you," Annabeth yelled. I turned just in time to have the bull guy knock me to the ground beside her. I groaned a rubbed the side of my head that slammed into the ground. My quiver and bow laid at the monster's feet, I glanced at Annabeth. She was completely stiff, staring at something behind the monster. I followed her gaze and spotted Dawn creeping up behind it. My eyes widened and I was about to yell at her but Annabeth slapped her hand over my mouth. Dawn stood behind the bull and raised her hands slowly, ice started to form along the ground at the monster's feet. My bow suddenly appeared in my hand and my quiver appeared on my back. I notch an arrow and aimed and the bull man's forehead while ice creped up his legs. I shot the arrow and hit him right I was aiming. He roared and charged at me, breaking the ice. I dived to the side just as it ran over where I was a second before. I shot another arrow and hit his arm, just below his elbow. His nostrils flared as he turned to me and charged with his arms out which ever way I dived and there was no way I could out run it.

"Kenny," Dawn yelled from behind the bull. A thick sheet of ice suddenly appeared between the bull and me, it ran right into it and stumbled backward. It's eyes widened and let out a roar in agony before bursting into yellow powder. The ice sheet disappeared and revealed Dawn standing where the bull used to be. In her hand was a long blade completely made of ice and her eyes were slightly glowing a faint blue for a second. She started to wobble as her eye lids drooped, I ran to her and caught her before she could fall over.

"You two ok," Annabeth asked as she made her way over to us. We nodded but she looked at Dawn skeptically, she pulled a Ziploc bag out of her pocket. In the was cubes of what looked like pudding, she handed us each a cube. I ate it cautiously, it tasted like Dawn's home made dark chocolate brownies. I felt energy coarse through my veins and I felt some what stronger. Dawn stood up and was able to keep her balance as we headed back to the rest stop building.

"What was going on," Clare asked when she saw us. Grover and Percy was sitting on a bench beside her, Grover was chewing on a tin can and Rue was looking at him strangely.  
"We need to leave, Percy, I'll drive the SUV, Zane drive the Jeep, follow me and make sure you don't loss me ever," Annabeth said. We all nodded and headed back to the vesicles.

We drove for hours until we got a call from Zane saying that everyone in the jeep was hungry so we went into the next town and got ourselves some food at Wendy's and Subway. Annabeth, Percy, and Grover discussed something that they wouldn't let the rest of us hear, though Dawn glanced over at them often, uncomfortably.

"Dawn, stop watching them, if they want us to know they will tell us," I whispered in her ear and rest a hand on her shoulder. She nodded warily and went back to eating her frosty.  
When we all finished eating we went back onto the highway. After a few more hours my phone rang, waking up Dawn and Percy. The caller ID said it was Zane so I quickly answered it.

"'Ello," I said.

"Give the phone to Annabeth," Grover replied so I handed up the phone to her. After a few minutes Annabeth let out some curses and handed my the phone. She jerked the car to the side into a U-turn and served through traffic.

"Shit, Annabeth, what are you doing," Percy yelled over the car horns.

"Grover got a flat tire and they got trouble," she replied.

"Aw come on, not my Jeep," I complained. Dawn patted my back and gripped my arm, hard, when we pulled to the side of the road by my jeep. "Where are they?"

"In the woods," Dawn said, before anyone could react she was over the property fence and running through the trees on the other side. We ran after her as we all pulled out our weapons. I notch an arrow and was ready to shot whatever monster that was around. We ran into a clearing and standing in the middle of it was a Cyclops. It was shirtless and was wearing a XXXXXL pair of jogging shorts.

"Where's Tyson when you need him," Percy muttered. I shot the monster in the back of it's knee it fell to it's knee and turned to face us. "Kenny, hid and aim for it's eye," Percy ordered before racing at the monster. I backed into the woods and climbed into a tree as Annabeth and Percy taunted and attacked the one eyed beast. I notched an arrow and waited for it to turn in my direction. When I released the arrow it hit right in the pupil. It roared with agony and Percy delivered the final blow.

"Kenny, come on down," Annabeth called. I climbed down and walked into the clearing as Grover, Clare, Zane, and Rue walked into the clearing.

"I so feel safe with him around," Zane said, pointing at Grover.

"It was a Cyclops," he said.

"So, it's still a monster and you're still the Lord of the Wild," Zane pointed out.

"Let up, Zane, Grover has had very bad near death experiences with Cyclopes," Percy said, patting Grover's shoulder.

"Guys, where's Dawn," Rue asked. I looked around, doing a three sixty in the process.

"She was here a second ago," I replied.

"We haven't seen her since we entered the woods," Annabeth groaned.

"We have to find her," Percy said. "Grover?" Grover lifted his nose and took in several deep breaths.

"Nothing, it's like she was never hear," he replied.

"Are you sure, G-Man," Percy asked.

"Yes," Grover said, sadly.

"We have to report in," Annabeth said.

"There is a waterfall not far from here," he said pointing to our left. She nodded and we all followed him. We eventually came to a river that dropped down a cliff making a magnificent waterfall beside us. I shifted on my feet uncomfortably because I knew Dawn would love to see this.

"O Iris, Goddess of rainbows, please except my offering," Percy said before tossing a gold coin into a rainbow that was made by the mist rising from the waterfall. The rainbow shimmered and the coin disappeared. "Chiron, Camp Half-Blood." It shimmered then showed an aging old man sitting at a table with another aging man that was wearing a purple button down shirt.

"Aw, Percy, what can I do for you," the old man asked turning to look at us. That's when I noticed that the lower half of his body was a white stallion.

"You- you are a-," Rue stammered in disbelief.

"Yes young demigod, I'm a centaur," he said, motioning to the horse half of his body.

"Chiron, we need to talk," Annabeth said.

"Why don't you guys see if you can find any sigh of her, yell if you need anything," Grover said. Reluctantly, we all turned and headed back to the clearing that we fought the Cyclops in.

"What are they hiding," Clare asked when we were out of ear shot.

"Dawn knows, she was watching their conversation earlier today," I said.

"Curse her wonderful lip read skills," Zane muttered.

"How did she disappear," Rue asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know, we followed her into the woods but after that she was gone like she was never here," I replied, staring at the ground.

"Don't worry, man, we'll find your girlfriend," Zane said patting my back.

"She isn't my girlfriend, dumbo," I said, blushing.

"Coulda' fooled me," he muttered, walking back to Clare's side.

"I did fool you, so why don't you and your girlfriend go see if you can get us something to drink from my jeep," I said, rolling my eyes. Clare's face turned red and she opened her mouth to say something but Zane covered it with his hand.

"Fine, you love sick puppy," he said before grabbing Clare's hand and leading her to where we left the cars. I glared at his back until he disappeared.

"Can you believe him," I asked Rue. She just shrugged and looked around like she was analyzing something.

"Where exactly did you loss sight of her," she asked.

"I don't know, she probably disappeared when I was getting out my bow," I shrugged.

"That doesn't really help," she said, looking at the ground.

"Sorry but that's all I got," I muttered.

"We bring refreshments," Zane yelled, jumping out of a bush with his arms full of drinks.

"Gatorade," I said and he tossed it to me.

"Hey, guys we got to go, quickly," Grover said as Percy, Annabeth, and him burst into the clearing.

"What's going on," I asked, confused.

"I'll explain on the way but we need to get back to the SUV," Annabeth said, leading the way back.

"Are we all going to fit," Clare asked, unsure.

"Sure, Grover just has to sit back with our stuff," Percy said.

"Of course I'm the one getting stuck back there," Grover mumbled.

"Can't he just sit between you two," I asked. No one said anything but Grocer gave me a are-you-trying-to-torture-me look. "Ok then," I muttered and we climbed into the SUV and Zane handed out the drinks.

"No more stops unless we're going to eat so hold it if you have to go," Annabeth said from the passenger seat.

"What about my jeep," I asked before we pulled back onto the highway.

"The police will get it back to your mom eventually, Grover do you have the keys," she said.

"Yep," he replied juggling the keys. I reached to the back and snatched them from him. "Grabby," he said.

"Yep, you should see him when Dawn makes her famous dark chocolate brownies," Clare laughed.

"Hey, you do it too, Clare," I pointed out.

"So, I'm not the one that stands behind her the whole time she makes them," she retorted. I glared at her and Zane slapped my shoulder so I turned my glare to him, he just smirked.

"Hey, Kenny, can you see if you can grab that map from under you seat? I want to see if there is a country road we can drive on instead it'll be faster," Annabeth asked, interruption the argument. I nodded and reached under my seat and pulled out and big map booklet and handed it to her.

"This going to be a really long trip," Rue groaned. "Why can't we just fly?"

"I can't fly, Zeus would shot me out of the sky," Percy replied.

"Great, I get to sit on my but for the next twelve ours," Zane said.

"Actually it's only about four hours now," Grover said.

"Awesome," Clare cheered. We all laughed but the rest of the trip was silent, probably thinking about what happened to Dawn, like me.


	7. Chapter 7

ATCC chapter 7

Brandon

I woke up to my room mate, Tony Devenardo, son of Apollo, shaking and yelling at me. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes, he was only wearing red plaid boxers. "Come on, Brandon, wake up," he yelled in my ear. I pushed him to the ground and sat up in my bed.

"What is it Tony," I growled, I never liked it when he cut in to his sleep.

"There's a new girl, she's in the infirmary, room 32D," he replied. When he said there was a new girl I jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed and Tony followed my lead.

"Clay said that the Boss brought her in herself," Tony said as we walked through the halls on our way to the infirmary.

"She must be pretty important is she did that. Got a name," I asked. We passed a crowd of Aphrodite chicks and they all giggled and waved.

"Hi Brandon, Hi, Tony," they said in unison.

"Hello, ladies," Tony said, winking at them. They giggled as I waved and they started talking among themselves.

"Dude, we totally got those girls in the bag," Tony said when they were out of ear shot.

"Then why don't you ask one of them out," I asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"Anyways, do you know the name of the new girl," I asked as we pushed through some double doors.  
"Nope, I just know what I told you," he replied as we walked do a hall that had glass windows as the walls. The windows over looked the infirmary rooms, which were set up like mortal hospital room. We walked down to the end to the hall where people were crowding around the right window, mostly boys.

"Tony, Brandon, over here," someone called from the front of the crowd. We shoved our way to the front of the crowd to them, ignoring the swears and curses front the people they shoved. "You made it just in time, they are getting ready to wake her up," the boy beside me said. He had long black hair that went to his shoulders that was pulled back into a low pony tail; he also had dark blue eyes and was wearing a plain blue tank, black gym shorts, and navy blue sneakers.

"Great, we made it for the main event," Tony said, cheerfully. The boy and I laughed at his enthusiasm. I gazed down into the room at the sleeping form lying in the infirmary bed; all I could see of the new girl was that she had short brown hair.

"Hey, Clay, do you know who she is or where she came from," I asked the boy beside me.

"Nope. Oh look, here comes the Boss," he said point to the entrance of the infirmary room. Entering the room was a tall woman that looked to be in her mid thirties, she had black eyes, pure black wavy hair, and dark, tanned skin. She was wearing a black cloak over a navy blue long sleeve shirt, black jeans, and black platform chain boots. I've only seen the Boss during tournaments that she over looked, I've never actually talked to her, only her kids got to or if you worked in the infirmary. Then it occurred to me, if she was over seeing the new girl then she must be one of the Boss's kids. Then there was the fact that the Boss didn't have any demigod children, only kids with other gods so the new girl had two godly parents. That brought up the main question, who was her dad?

"Does anyone no who her dad is," I asked.

"No, the only information given out was that it's a girl and Boss brought her in," Clay replied. I slightly curse in ancient Greek and watch Boss talk to a child of Apollo. "Shouldn't you be down there, Tony?"

"My shift hasn't started yet and Boss doesn't like people going to their shift early," Tony replied, leaning a shoulder on the glass.

"Darn, when you go in can you collect information on her," I asked with a grin.

"Sure thing, dude. Thinking about trying to catch her," he asked.

"Maybe, depends on if I can even get a chance to talk to her," I replied.

"Hey, hey guys, she's waking up," Clay said, slapping my shoulder. I whacked his hand away from my shoulder and gazed down into the room. Sure enough the girl in the bed as shifting around and was sitting up slowly up revealing her face and what shirt she was wearing. She had short brown and startling bright brown eyes that were foggy from sleep; she was wearing a dark blue shirt with sleeves that went half way down to her elbow. My eyes widened, it took me a moment to recognize her but when I did I was in total shook. It was Dawn Ocean, my girlfriend, probably ex-girlfriend now, from before I ran away from home when my mom was killed and the government tried to force me to live with my drunken uncle. I tried to take my little sister, Elizabeth, with me but she refused to leave since she didn't understand the whole drunk uncle concept yet. Not long after I ran away did I find this place in the middle of no where somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky and I've been here ever since.

"Hey, Brandon, are you okay," Tony asked, looking at me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired I guess," I lied, wondering why Dawn was here.

"Ok. Hey, I gotta' go my shift is about to start," he said before shoving his way out of the crowd and ran down the hall and disappeared.

"He better get us some information," Clay muttered. I nodded in agreement and watched as the infirmary workers talked to Dawn till Boss yelled at them to do something they all left leaving Dawn and Boss alone. Clay disappeared into the crowd when Boss looked at the window and gave a signal. There was a loud squeak and blare from an intercom and then Clay reappeared with his hands over his ears.

"Ok, one of the Hephaestus kids really needs to fix that," I said.

"Yeah, no kidding," he agreed, removing his hands from his ears.

"Followers, listen up," the Boss's voice said over the intercom. We all quieted down and looked down into the room at the Boss. "Welcome our new recruit, Dawn Ocean, daughter of Nyx and Poseidon." A lot of people gasped and whispered amongst each other while others disappeared. I gaped, wide eyed as the Boss helped Dawn out of the infirmary room and put of sight.  
"Dude, turn off the intercom," I ordered a frozen Clay. He nodded and ran off to a nearby control panel. I sighed and rested my forehead against the glass window. Life here was about to get extremely difficult, I thought as me and Clay headed off to our sword fighting class.

It's been a few days since Dawn arrived and she was all that anyone could talk about. I haven't seen her since she arrived but I knew where she was every second of everyday because of everyone kept tabs on her twenty-four seven.

"Brandon, the tournament brackets are up," Tony said, bursting into our room with Clay right behind him. "Dawn entered too," he added. I followed them to the cafeteria where the bulletin board was located. I skimmed over the names until I found my name.

"Great, I'm facing Alexandra first," I groaned.

"Sucks to be you," Clay said, patting my shoulder.

"Who you going against," I asked him.

"Dawn Ocean, lucky me," he replied, grinning widely.

"Dude, she's going to make you a permanent icicle," Tony said.

"We'll see about that, besides you're the one that flirts with her every second you see her," Clay pointed out.

"What do you expect, she's hot," Tony said, defending himself.

"Very true, but I'm the one that called dibs," Clay pointed out.

"Since when? I don't recall hearing anyone call dibs, we never call dibs," I retorted. We all laughed and looked at the roaster. "Tony, did you sign up?"

"Yes, but I can't fight, I'm working as the field doctor the whole time," he replied sadly. Clay and I laughed, pointing at him.

"You're going to be our field nurse," Clay laughed, making me laugh harder.

"I don't care, as long as I don't have to wear the outfit," Tony shrugged.

"All tournament participations please report to the arena for a briefing," a voice said over the intercom.

"Well, that's our cue, see ya later, field nurse," Clay said as we walked away leaving Tony alone in the cafeteria.

Clay and I just stood in the arena talking to a few friends about the tournament and what we would do all day on the free day we could win. Clay boasted about how he was facing Dawn first and how he planned on showing off his new moves he had learned since the last tournament.

"Why don't you go talk to your first opponent, Clay," our friend, Collin Remorse, son of Hades said.

"What, not unless I can take someone else with me for back up," Clay replied, slightly blushing.

"Take, Brandon, he's great back up," Collin suggested, waving a hand toward me.

"What," I exclaimed. I didn't want this to be the way Dawn would find out I was here but before I could protest any further Clay was already dragging me through the arena to where Dawn was currently laying on the ground staring at the lights hanging from the cyling.

"Hi Dawn," Clay said, cheerfully as we approached.

"What do you want now, Clay," she groaned, not looking at us.

"Why do you think it is Clay," he asked in a lower tone.

"Because I'm not stupid on like some people," she replied. 'Same old Dawn,' I thought, laughing at Clay's sad expression.

"Shut up, Brandon, no one asked for your stupid opinion," Clay snapped.

"You practically did when you dragged me over here," I pointed out, instantly wishing I didn't talk at all. Dawn sat up quickly and looked at me wide eyed. "Why are you looking at me like that," I asked, deciding to mess with her a bit.

"B-Brandon," she stuttered. I nodded and she jumped to her feet and wrapped me in a bear hug.

"Nice to see you too, Princess," I said, using the nickname I gave her when we started dating, as I hugged her back.

"You have a lot of explaining to do mister," Dawn growled, playfully, as she pulled away and poked my chest.

"You bet he does," Clay butted in, crossing his arms over his chest. I opened my mouth to start explaining when a voice yelled for everyone to be quiet. We all turned to the front of the arena where the Boss stood.

"Alright you all know the rule, no killing you opponent," she said.

"Darn it," Dawn muttered. I chuckled as Clay glared at me and Dawn whacked his shoulder.

"Now go retrieve you weapons and armor and wait to be called out for your fight," she said and everyone headed for the armory to get their armor and weapons. I grabbed my armor and quickly put it on and pulled Dawn with hers.

"So what weapon are you using," Dawn asked.

"This," I replied, pulling out a round disc from my pocket.

"What is it," she asked, confused.

"You, missy, will just have to wait till my fight," I replied, poking her nose. She giggled before running a hand through her hair. "So what weapon are you using?"

"You're just going to have to wait and see," she replied, smiling.

"Aww," I whined, pouting. She just rolled her eyes and straightened her armor.

"Hey, guys," Clay said walking over.

"Oh great," Dawn muttered, her lips forming a frown.

"Hi Clay," I said, slightly waving to him.

"Ready for our fight, Dawn," he asked, grinning.

"Yeah, as long as your ready to lose," she replied, sticking out her tongue and I chuckled.

"I'm not going to lose; me and Brandon are going to have a face off in the finals. Right, man," he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"That's if Dawn doesn't beat your ass first," I replied, laughing. Clay punched my shoulder and Dawn laughed uncontrollably. "Dawn, Breath," I exclaimed, hitting her back when she started coughing.

"Ok, ok, I'm fine just stop hitting me," she snapped, punching my shoulder. Ice started to form where she hit me and I slightly gasped at the sudden cold. "Sorry," she apologized, touching the ice so it would disappear.

"That's what I call a cold shoulder," Clay laughed. Dawn glared at him and ice suddenly covered his shoulder. He squealed and tried to brush it off. We cracked up laughing till we couldn't laugh anymore. Dawn leaned against my side as she caught her breath and relaxed.

"Ok, Brandon McSiver and Alexandra Sprear, you fight is next," someone on the intercom said.

"Great, now Brandon gets to get beat up," Clay clapped. I glared at him and Dawn looked at us confused.

"She's a daughter of Ares along with one of the best fighting demigods here," I explain.

"Oh, I get it," she nodded.

"Come on, Zappy, let's get this over with," a voice behind me growled and then someone grabbed the back of my armor and dragged me toward the arena.

"Good Luck," Dawn called. I gave her a thumbs up before I entered the arena.

"Next up is Brandon McSiver verses Alexandra Sprear," the announcer announced. The crowd cheered most for Alexandra, of course, she was a big hit with anyone she deemed worthy enough for her to not beat up, which was surprisingly was a lot of people. My friends that sat in front cheer loudly for me though they got glares from Alexandra and her crew.

"Get ready to lose, Zappy, you don't stand a chance," said the girl a few feet away from me. Her messy bronze colored hair was braided down her back and her bangs slightly hid her scary brown eyes. She was dressed in full bronze battle armor and had a long, sharp, double bladed celestial bronze sword in her hand.

I flipped my bronze disc into the air and when I caught it was a five feet long celestial bronze spear. The ends were sharpened to a very fine point and the middle was wrapped in a leather grip.

"The fight will begin; NOW," the announcer shouted and Alexander pounced. I knocked her aside with my spear sending her rolling on the ground.

"That all you got," I taunted. My plan was to stay on defense and just tire her out so I would get an easy win; the bad part of the plan was that she had a chance to give me multiple wounds. She growled and jumped at me again, this time fastest so when I dived out the way she was able to grab my feet. She stabbed the ground by my feet with her sword before standing up while still gripping my ankles. She spun me around and threw me into a wall. I looked around dazed and shook my head like I was a wet dog. I looked over at were Alexandra was standing when she threw me but she was out of sight. I got up and was about to head over to where my spear was but I was knocked over from behind and my arm was cut deeply. I groaned and spun around to face the attacker. Alexandra smirked before hitting me in the forehead with the butt of her sword. I stumbled backward, dazed, and fell on the ground beside my spear. She was about to stab down into my chest but I quickly rolled away with my spear. I sprung to my feet and blocked her sword when she tried to attack me again.

We went like that for what felt like hours but it was only seconds. She fainted to the left and attacked to the right, knocking me to the ground again by slashing my leg. She cut my side and cheek until I had enough of that. Grabbed her wrist and sent a bolt of electricity up her arm. Her eyes widened and loss hairs stood up on end. I smirked, letting go of her wrist, as soon as I did she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"This fight is over, Brandon McSiver will be moving on to the next round," the announcer announced and Tony ran over to Alexandra. He gave me a thumbs up before carrying her out of the arena. The crowd cheered and clapped and even did a bad wave which made my chuckle. I walked back to where I entered.

"You okay," Dawn asked when she saw me. I nodded as a medic took care of my wounds.

"You and Clay will be up soon, you ready," I asked, wincing as the medic washed my leg wound.

"Yeah, I think," she replied, quietly.

"Hey, relax, he isn't going to kill you, trust me," I said, resting a hand on her shoulder as she sat down on a bench beside me.

"I know, but I'm not completely sure that I should even be in this tournament," she said.

"What do you mean? You're the one that signed up," I said, confused.

"Nyx signed me up, I didn't want to be in this at all," she replied, sadly. "I've only been here a few days and barely started training."

"You'll be fine and I'm sure Clay will go easy on you since it's your first time," I pointed out. She smiled, half heartedly, and let out a sigh.

"Clay Storm and Dawn Ocean, you're up next," someone said over the intercom.

"Great, my turn to get beat up," she muttered, standing up and groaning.

"You'll do fine, just relax," I told her, standing beside her. "Good luck," I whispered in her ear before I kissed her cheek. She blushed brightly and waved before walking out into the arena with Clay.


	8. Chapter 8

ATCC chapter 8

Dawn

I breathed heavily as I slid over my own ice, dodging Clay's sword. I held out a hand in his direction and ice covered his feet, pinning his feet to the ground.

"Hey," he growled, slashing his sword against the ice. I took a few steps back before waving a hand. Water appeared and splashed him in the face. He yelled with rage and the ice at his feet melted to mush. He ran at me and swung his sword at my neck. I raised my arms to protect myself and an ice sheet formed into a shield, blocking the blow. I stumbled back from the impact and lost my balance. I fell on my butt and groaned at the pain of falling on a rock.

"Gotcha'," he said and slashed his sword at my feet. An ice dome surrounded me, taking the blow instead. The ice melted once the sword hit it and cut into the ground between my legs. I squeaked and crawled backward away from the blade. I raised a hand and ice covered his entire body. I sighed in relief as the crowd cheered and the announcer announced me the winner. I limped out of the arena and slumped down onto a bench.

"Hey nice fight, Clay always wanted to know what if felt like in Antarctica with no coat on," Brandon laughed, walking over. I smiled at him as he sat down beside me. I still couldn't believe that he was here, alive, he went missing half way through summer break and everyone thought he was dead when the police couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. Now here he was, acting like he never left home, Elizabeth, or me. I rested a hand over the wound on my ankle and concentrated on the water in the air.

"Ahhh, that feels better," I muttered as the pain in my ankle eased and disappeared.

"Show off," he said, giving me a fake glare.

"Hey, there is no way I'm going into my next fight with a bad ankle," I said, slightly sternly, poking his nose.

"Well, I don't want to go into my next fight with my leg but I have to," he complained, crossing his arms over his chest. I rolled my eyes and sat up straight, thinking about trying something.

"Give me your leg," I said, patting my lap. He looked at me confused but put his bad leg across my lap do his bandaged wound was facing me. I slowly unwrapped the wound, thankful that it had stopped bleeding. I cautiously laid my hand over it and felt Brandon wince. I closed my eyes and focused on the water in the air. After a few minutes I removed my hand from the wound and opened my eyes, the wound was now just a white scar.

"Whoa, awesome," Brandon said, examining the scar.

"Yep, now get your leg off my lap," I said, making a sweeping motion.

"Na, don't feel like it," he replied, resting his other leg on my lap. I glared at him and pushed his feet to the floor. He pouted and I grinned widely and rest my legs on his lap. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, my face close to his.

"Now what do you feel like doing," I asked, blowing air into his face. He grinned and leaned his face closer so out noses were brushing. My breath caught as my mind wondered to the last time he kissed me. It was a few hours before he disappeared and the night I finally told him about my powers.

"I feel like doing this," he whispered before kissing me gently. My lips played a smile as we kissed.

"DAWN OCEAN," someone suddenly yelled. I nearly jumped off the bench in surprise as Brandon grabbed me. I looked up at who yelled and nearly jumped again when I saw my mom, Nyx, goddess of the night. She stood in front of us with her arms crossed and glaring down at us.

"Uhhh, hi Nyx," I said, uncomfortably. Brandon waved slightly, also looking uncomfortable. She tapped her foot impatiently like she was waiting for us to do something. I took my legs off his lap and back on the floor and we both straightened up. "Did you want something," I asked and Brandon shot my a cautious look.

"Waiting for you to explain what just happened," she replied, still glaring at us.

"Ummmm," I muttered as I tried to find the right words to say.

"We were just doing what all couples do," Brandon said, resting his arm on my shoulders. I looked at him confused but said nothing.

"If you two are a couple then you should leave so I can have a talk with my daughter," Nyx said, pointing a black polished finger nail at him.

"Okay," he muttered retracting his arm. "I'll just see you later, Princess," he said, kissing my cheek before getting up and walking over to group of boys about his age.

"If you're going to give me 'The Talk' let me just say that my 'foster' mom already gave to me," I said before she could speak. "So did my 'sister' and Kenny's mom and Clare and Rue and Zane even, well not exactly, he tried, it was very entertaining," I added, nodding my head with a playful smile.

"I'm not giving you 'the talk', I just want to talk and get to know my daughter," she said, calmly, sitting down beside me. I flinched slightly when she called me her daughter sense I still wasn't used to the idea that I have full godly blood and not just half like everyone else.

"Who is my dad," I asked, curiously.

"I don't know," she muttered. "There is so many possibilities though you power over water narrows it down a bit."

"Who are the possibilities?"

"Poseidon, Triton, Themis, Proteus, and Nereus."

"Hmmm, I kind of like the idea of Poseidon being my dad."

"You shouldn't like any of them being your dad except for maybe Triton."

"Why, what's wrong with the others?"

"They are mean, vicious gods," she growled.

"Really, I don't picture Poseidon like that in the myths he was nice, I mean he created horses and their really sweet," I said, confused.

"People change over the centuries, Dawn, remember that," she said before getting up and walking away. I released a long breath as Brandon walked back over.

"What was that about," he asked sitting down beside.

"Apparently she hopes my dad is Triton and not any of the other sea gods," I huffed, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Well, she already a son of Triton and her so if you are then apparently Triton and her had a lot of fun together," he chuckled. I shook my head, trying not to laugh.

"Brandon McSiver and Eric Stanton, you're up," someone said over the intercom. Brandon groaned loudly and stood up.

"Ready to go to the underworld, Zappy," a boy asked as he shouldered past him. He had short bleach blonde hair a blue eyes, he was wearing armor on his torso and black baggy jeans with chains hanging from the belt loops.

"At least I don't have to worry about his half brother till next fight if I survive this fight," Brandon said.

"Is his brother really that bad," I asked.

"You have no idea, he's the best demigod fighter here he can easily beat Alexandra," he replied. I followed him to the gate of the arena and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Why are you wasting your time with him, why not try out this bad boy," Eric said patting his hip.

"I'd rather not even if my life depended on it," I replied, disgusted

"Your loss, I'm sure any other girl would accept," he shrugged, walking into the arena.

"Then apparently any other girl doesn't have eyes," I retorted. Brandon chuckled which surprised me sense I thought he was already in the arena. "Get going, Brand, or I'll send you to the underworld myself," I said, using the name Kenny and I used to use all the time for him and pushing him through the gate, into the arena.

"BEGIN," the announcer yelled, but both of the boys just stood there staring at each other. Eric yelled something to ancient Greek and the ground started to rumble and opened up in between the two. The undead jumped out onto Brandon's shoulders and shot arrows everywhere.

"Hey, watch it," I complained as I dodged a bunch of arrows. Some of the undead turned toward me and shot more arrows. I squeaked and dodged them, I glared at them once I recovered. I started my way and a few boys pushed past me into the arena as an alarm blared and people shout from the crowd. I noticed that the undead was climbing into crowd. I raced into the arena and looked around for Brandon while dodging arrows.

"Dawn, over here," I heard someone shout behind me. I spun around and ducked, barely not getting scalped.

"Geeze," I muttered before making my way to where the shout came from. I found Brandan cutting through the undead but he had a nasty cut on his arm and across his chest. I created a sword made of ice in my hand and slashed through some undead guys to get to him. "So how's it going?"

"How do you think," he said, slightly glaring at me as he knocked off an undead girls head.

"Great considering you're not dead," I replied, cutting a few undead guys in half.

"That's true," he said, pondering that fact.

"Where did Eric go?"

"Ummm, I have no idea. I lost him when the alarms started going off and the undead decided that they had to use me as a landing pad," he replied slashing arrows out of the air.

"Darn, I wanted to make him an icicle and send him to his dad like that," I joked, ducking away from a sword of a demigod.

"Since when did you become so violent?"

"Since I found out I am the daughter of the goddess of night and a god of the sea."

"ALL DEMIGODS LEAVE THE ARENA IMEDIANTLY," Nyx yelled. "ALL MY CHILDREN STAY." I glanced at Brandon and he gave me a sad look, probably thinking the same thing I was.

"Stay alive," he said, kissing me quickly before following the other demigods out of the arena and locking the undead, my half siblings, and I in. Some turned to me and shoot arrows or ran at me with swords. I raised my ice blade and deflected and re-killed most of the sword wielding undead.

"Dawn, lead them to me," someone to my left yelled. I waved a hand in the air and an ice sheet cut off the undead from me. I looked over at who yelled, nearly shot by an arrow. The girl had straight red hair that was in a ponytail that reached her waist and she had bold red eyes. She was dressed in a purple long sleeve v-neck shirt, black short shorts, and knee high black platform boots. I recognized her as Rebecca Song, daughter of Nyx and Thanatos; god of death. I have been training with her since I got here and I knew that if you don't do as she said she would kill you.

"I'm not completely sure I can," I replied, flinching when the undead slashed the ice sheet with their swords.

"Try," she yelled. I nodded, raising my hands and focusing and the water in the air around me. I images the waves of the ocean on a beach and when I opened my eyes the undead was being swept toward Rebecca by a large wave of water. I grin in satisfaction and made the wave disappear before it could hit Rebecca.

"Duck," she yelled before she plunged into the undead. I looked up and saw a fire ball heading my way. I flattened myself to the ground as it hit the wall behind me.

"Watch it," I yelled, slightly angry that I almost became a barbeque.

"Watch were you're standing," someone yelled back. I huffed and went back to fighting the undead. I jumped back onto the wall as a wave of the undead came at me all at once. I brought up my arms quickly and a wave of a mixture of water and ice hit them, making most of them disappear and the others dazed. I was about to jump back down when I noticed that the arena was mostly empty now. There was only a few undead left fighting my half siblings and me. I easily hacked through the rest of the undead that attacked me and a few moments later the arena was empty except for my siblings and I.

"Well that was fun," Rebecca said walking over to me.

"Yeah, nothing like an army of undead guys to make your day," I said sarcastically. She giggled as three boys walked over.

"Nice moves there, sis," one of them said, looking at at me. He looked a lot like Clay except he didn't have long hair and his cloths were black. He had short black shaggy hair and dark blue eyes, he was wearing a teal green shirt with a back hooded jacket, black jeans, black converse. "I'm Knight by the way," he greeted, smiling. "That's Austin and Jack," he added, pointing to the other two boys.

"Jack is the one that almost hit you with the fire ball," Rebecca said, pointing to the blonde boy. He had buzz cut blonde hair and pale blue eyes, his hands were big and callused from working in the base forge. He was wearing Trojan armor and had a Trojan helmet crooked under his right arm.

"She was in the line of fire, literally," he shrugged. I raised an eyebrow in question but decided to drop it.

"Fish boy, why don't you take Flame Head to the infirmary," Austin suggested. He had long shaggy light brown hair and sapphire colored eyes, he was wearing full Greek body armory though his helmet was laying on the ground on the other side of the arena. Knight and Jack nodded and left through the now unlock gates. "So who's your dad, Wave face," he asked.

"Don't know but I will turn you into and icicle if you call me that again," I threatened.

"Call you what, Wave Face," he asked grinning and walking away.

"Don't worry he gives everyone a nickname," Rebecca said.

"But does he have to call me Wave Face," I groaned.

"He just thinks about what you were doing when he met you or your powers or even your godly parent or parents," she replied, shrugging. "He calls me Death Call because I can call someone to their death though it takes a lot of power so I usually do the normal way."

"So basically you just cut their heads off if you want to kill them unless you really, REALLY, hate them," I concluded.

"Yeah basically, though only one person has done that but you never hear about them," she said as walked out of the arena. She went off to the infirmary to check on the others and tried to get me to go along with her and get my wounds checked.

"I can heal my own wounds they can use that stuff for everyone else," I replied before walking off in the direction of the dorms.

"Dawn, hey, wait up," someone called from behind me. I turned as Clay and Tony ran over.

"Whats up," I asked.

"We want to see if you can get through to Brandon," Clay replied, letting out a big breath.

"Why, what's going on," I asked, confused.

"He refuses to be treated he wants to wait till everyone else is," Tony replied, stepping to close for comfort. I step away from him and closer to Clay.

"I can take care of him just lead the way to where ever he is," I said.

"Tony, go back and help in the infirmary, I'll take Dawn to Zappy," Clay said, chuckling at Tony's sad expression. She followed him through many halls before they reach a door that had a white board on it that said 'The room of Tony Devenardo (son of Apollo) and Brandon McSiver (son of Zeus)'. Clay knocked on the door and a few moments later Brandon opened the door. His chest and arm was wrapped in some bandages and he was shirtless and wearing sweat pants which I found hot.

"Dawn is here, Zappy," clay said before walking down the hall.

"Come on in," Brandon said, stepping out of the way so I could enter. The dorm had two beds one with a sun design and the other with a storm design. The walls were painted a pale orange and the carpet was black with a yellow sun and a blue lightning bolt striking over the sun. The floor was littered with candy wrappers and dirty sock, shirts, pants, and a few boxers.

"That's so gross," I muttered when I saw a pair of boxers on a pillow on the sun design bed.

"That's Tony for ya," Brandon said sitting on the other bed. I sat down on the foot of the bed, facing him.

"Are you going to let me heal you wounds," I asked.

"Heal yours first," he said, quickly.

"They'll heal when I take a shower later," I pointed out. "Now give me your arm." He smirked and held out his good arm. "Other arm," I growled, impatiently. He held out his other arm and I removed the bandages, causing Brandon to wince a few times. I healed it easily and dropped his arm down on my knee. I blushed lightly when I noticed that I was going to have to touch his bare chest.

"What's wrong," Brandon asked, confused.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head and cautiously unbound the wound. "Lay down," I said with a shaky voice.

"You sure you're okay," he asked, laying down. I hesitated but nodded, moving to his side.

"I'm fine, truly," I replied, kneeling at the edge of the bed. I rested my hand on his chest wound, I closed my eyes as I felt his heart beat and listened to his even breathing. I let out a breath before focusing on the water in the air. When I opened my eyes again the wound was just a scar under my finger tips.

"We haven't been this close for months," Brandon commented, putting his hand over mine on his chest.

"When was the last time we were this close," I asked.

"Last time we made out," he replied with a smirked, prompting himself up on an elbow so his face was only an inch from mine. Just before we were about to kiss someone burst into the room, the door flew open so fast the door nob made a hole in the wall. I turned to glare at who ever it was but froze at the sight before me.


	9. Chapter 9

ATCC chapter 9  
Percy

It's been a few days since we arrived to Camp Half-Blood and all the new demigods from Ohio have been claimed. Kenny by Apollo (big surprise), Zane by Hephaestus (explains why he somewhat reminds me of Beckondorf), Clare by Demeter (she is one unusual daughter of Demeter), and Rue by Athena (no wonder she reminded me of some of the Athena kids). They all have found a way to fit in with their half siblings and are getting around great. They all are still shaken by Dawn's disappearence, the camp doesn't know about the gods order or about Dawn so they weren't bugged about her. Since they arrived at camp they have all been training about ten hours a day, so far Kenny and Rue are the best fighters.

I was currently sitting on the lake peir watching the naiades weave their baskets. I heard someone step onto the peir, I expected it to be Annabeth or Grover. I turned to see who it was and saw Kenny running across the peir to me.

"Percy, I need to talk to you," he said when he was only a few feet away.

"What about," I asked turning to face him completely.

"How do you get a quest," he asked, sitting beside me.

"Why do you need to know that," I asked, slightly confused.

"Just wondering," he replied, practicly twiddling his thumbs.

"You want to go find Dawn, don't you," I said after a few momments.

"Not just want to," he muttered.

"What do you mean," I asked, getting confused agained.

"I have kinda' been asked by one of the big three to go and find her," he replied, quickly.

"Which one of the big three," I asked.

"Poseidon, I think, he just told me that if we don't go save her before it was too late," he replied, staring down at the water.

"Have you talked to Chiron or the others yet?"

"Me, you, Clare, and Rue are the only ones that know, well Zane probably knows now because of Clare."

"You need to talk to Chiron before you do anything else," I said, standing up. "Though we should get Annabeth first." Kenny nodded and we sprinted to the arena where Annabeth was teach Rue and Clare sword fighting.

"Hey Percy, hi Kenny," Rue said when she saw us walk into the arena. Kenny jogged over to her and Clare and whispered something to them.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said walking over. "Did you need something?"

"Am I not allowed to come watch my girlfriend teach a couple newbies sword fighting," I retorted, pouting.

"You are such a Seaweed Brain, Percy," she said, rolling her eyes before kissing my cheek.

"Isn't that why you gave me that name," I asked with a smirk as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Very true," she said, as I leaned down to kiss her.

"Percy and Annabeth," someone yelled from behind us. We jumped apart quickly a spun around to see who it was. Clare and Rue stood behind us looking inicent though I could tell they were fighting the urge to laugh.

"Wasn't me," Clare said, stepping back away from us and Rue.

"I didn't do it either," Rue said, holding her hands up in surender. Annabeth gave them her signature glare and put her hands on her hips.

"Anyways," Kenny said loudly, stepping into veiw and clapping his hands together. "Poseidon asked me to go save Dawn."

"Are you sure it was Poseidon that told you that," Annabeth asked.

"Uhhh, ninety percent sure it was him," he replied, cautiously.

"Well, I could see my dad doing that if he felt that he had a special connection with her," I commented.

"How would he have a special connection with her," Annabeth asked.

"Well, she had amazing powers over water and she spent spare time on Sundays walking around town picking up litter off the ground and out of the water ways. She spent a lot of time swimming in the water cleaning up any trash she could find," Rue pointed out.

"Is that why she smelled so bad on Mondays, I thought it was because her step dad won't let her take a shower over the weekend," Clare said, slightly gasping.

"Since she was hardly ever home he didn't notice, if he did he probably won't have let her take a shower," Rue shrugged and Kenny nodded it agreement.

"Ok well the whole clean up litter every where would him grateful to her but it's probably the powers," Annabeth said before they could continue with their conversation.

"You really need to talk to Chiron," I added and Annabeth hummed in agreement. We all headed to the Big House and found Chiron and Mr. D playing a card game on the porch.

"Hey Chiron, hello Mr. D," Annabeth said as she led the way to them.

"Well hello Annabeth, Percy, and young demigods, what can we do for you," Chiron asked as he turned to face us, his hooves clomping on the wood beneath him.

"Kenny has something to tell you," I said, letting Kenny step past me.

"I want a quest to save Dawn," he said.

"What gives you idea that you would be able to do that, Chris," Mr. D asked and I could practically see Kenny's facal expression fall.

"His name is Kenny, Mr. D," Chiron said.

"Whatever," Mr. D muttered.

"I had a dream that Poseidon told me to go save Dawn and to take Clare, Rue, and Zane with me," Kenny said, quickly.

"Well then Annabeth go call Rachel and see how long it will be till she can get here," Chiron said and Annabeth nodded before disappearing inside the house.

"How do we know that the boy is telling the truth," Mr. D asked.

"Kenny doesn't lie," Clare said, stepping forward. "Often," she added quietly.

"Yes thank you, Clare." Kenny retorted, slapping her arm lightly. Clare stuck out tongue childishly before stepping away from him incase he hit her again.

"Clare, why don't you go get Zane I suggested. She nodded and left, heading to the forages. Annabeth walked back onto the porch holding her cell phone to her ear.

"Rachel said that she will be here in about five," she said and I silently groaned. Five for Rachel usually turned into two hours. "She actually means it this time, she's is driving down the road right now," she added after a few moments of listening to the phone.

"Thats a first," I muttered.

"I agree," Annabeth said once she closed the phone.

"Chiron," someone yelled from down the hill. I turned and saw two campers about a year or two older then me come running up the hill. I regconized them both as Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter and couseler of the Demeter cabin, and Travis Stoll, son of Hermes and one of the couselers of the Hermes cabin.

"What is it, Katie and Travis," Chiron asked when they reached the porch.

"The forages are on fire again," they said in unision. I exchanged a glance with Chiron and Annabeth before we all spirinted down to the forages, well Chiron galloped but you get the idea.

When we got there naiads were already working on dowsing the flames as Leo, son of Hephaestus, tried to make the fires disappear. I stepped closer to the flames and felt a tug in my gut. A wave came from the nearby lake and scorched all the flame but also soaked everyone. Several people squeeled or gasped when the wave soaked them.

"Percy, not again," Travis groaned, shaking water out of his curly brown hair.

"I was expecting a girl to say that not you, Travis," I retorted, getting a glare from him and Katie. I put my hands up in surrender and walked away before Katie could getting any plants to grab me.

"Good job, Percy, you soaked everything in the area, again," Leo said when I walked over to him, Chiron, and Annabeth.

"Well, at least the fires gone," I shrugged. There was another tug in my gut and a wave of water swept over everyone and everything, leaving them dry as all the water returned to the lake. Everyone sighed and cheered in satisfaction before went back to cleaning up the mess the fire made.

"Just for the record, I didn't cause the fire this time," Leo said before walking away to help clean up. Zane and Clare ran over to us a few moments later. Zane's cloths were covered in soot and was burned slightly, the tips of some locks of hair was singed.

"Are you both alright," Chiron asked. Zane nodded as Clare brushed off his shoulder. "Good, now let's get back to the Big House so we can talk about this quest. Annabeth and Percy, you are coming to I want your input," Chiron said and led the way back up the hill.

When we walked into the living room of the Big House we were greeted by a red head about mine and Annabeth's age. I smiled half heartedly when I saw her and she waved, happily, to everyone.

"Hey guys," she said, smiling.

"Demigods, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare our oracle," Chiron said. "Rachel this is-"

"Clare Peterson, daughter of Demeter," Clare interrupted.

"Zane Blatch, son of Hephaestus," Zane added.

"Rue Simetra, daughter of Athena," Rue said, using Clare's shoulder as an arm rest.

"Kenny Marthon, son of Apollo," Kenny said finally.

"So your Annabeth's little half sister, Rue. Good luck," Rachel laughed.

"Hey," Annabeth growled, glaring at Rachel. I shifted slightly as I hugged Annabeth from behind in attempt to calm her down.

"You two are still together," Rachel said, slightly gasping. This time we both glared at her and I fought the urge to hit her. Since after we defeated Gaea Rachel has become a brat that never stops messing with Annabeth and our relationship. "I thought you two would have gotten sick of each other by now." I tightened my grip on Annabeth when she stiffened and Rachel smirked.

"Rachel, leave them alone," Chiron said, sternly. Rachel just shrugged and sat down on the couch.

"Just get to why I had to leave in the middle of Psychology," she said.

"I'm not liking this chick," I heard Zane whisper to Clare and she nodded in agreement.

"Kenny explain your dream to Rachel," Chiron said motioning Kenny forward.

"Last night Poseidon came to me in a dream and said that I needed to go save Dawn and bring her back here before it's to late. He said to make sure my old friends came too," he explained, nervously.

"You see, Rachel, at the last Olympus meeting the gods ordered for Dawn to be brought to camp to safety because we believe that she is one of the three in the new Great Prophecy. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were watching over her and these demigods when the order was made so I passed the message," Chiron added.

"On our way here we ran into a cyclops and before that a manticore and the minotaur. On our way to the cyclops to save Grover, Clare, Zane, and Rue Dawn disappeared, so we have no idea where she is," I put in, finally releasing Annabeth.

"Ever thought that maybe whatever the gods were trying to save her from took her," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Of course we thought of that, Dare," Annabeth hissed, giving Rachel a death glare. I understood why Annabeth was mad almost imediantally, Rachel had just basically called us all stupid.

"Just making sure," Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

"Rachel just give us the prophecy so they can go get ready," I said, trying to hold back my anger.

"Gods, Percy, impatient much," Rachel commented, looking me up and down as she stood up. I shifted uncomfortably as Rachel got a small creepy smile. Annabeth continued to glare at Rachel as she hugged my side. She wrapped her arms around my waist protectively like she was staking her claim and Rachel could take me without a fight. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and I kissed the top of her head.

"Rachel, the prophecy, please," Chiron said, sternly. Rachel suddenly doubled over, holding her stomach, then she straightened up. Her eyes glowed green and green fog bellowed around her feet.

"The stolen and the lost may be found  
But first you must brake the stolen's bound  
To the lost and to the night  
The arrow may not pierce the might of the night  
But the flower and fire may win the fight  
When the owl defeats the boar that fights," she said in an old rasped voice then she collapsed back onto the couch.

"What was that," Clare asked, looking completely shocked like the rest of her friends.

"That, Clare, was your prophecy for your quest," Annabeth replied.

"What does it mean," Kenny asked.

"Something good I hope," Zane muttered.

"Prophecies often have double meanings," Annabeth said. "You won't know what it means until it happens."

"Sounds like no one will die though," I said.

"Percy don't jinx them," Annabeth laughed, patting my stomach. I looked at her weirdly and shook my head.

"We've had our fair share of prophecies that said someone would die, so I think I know what I'm talking about, Wise Girl," I pointed out.

"Percy, there is a slight possibility you are wrong. The prophecy says that there will be fights," Chiron interrupted.

"I like Percy's input better," Zane said.

"Well of course you do, Zane, it's the happier one," Rue said.

"Exactly, let's go with happy," Zane chuckles. Rue rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder though it didn't faze him.

"All of you that is going on the quest go pack," Chiron said, they all nodded, walked out, and headed to their cabins to pack. "You can go back to your cabins now," he told Annabeth and I. We both nodded and walked out as Chiron was picking up Rachel to take her to her cave.

We walk hand in hand sown to my cabin so we could talk in privacy. We walk in and immediately I fell onto my bed with Annabeth beside me.

"Do you think they will make it," Annabeth asked breaking the silence between us.

"Sure, they all are great fighters," I replied, turning my head to look at her.

"Yeah but they have only been here for a week," she pointed out.

"Annabeth come on, it's not like their going to the underworld like we did," I said sitting up.

"True, but still they aren't experienced enough."

"You've seen Kenny's shot and Rue and Clare's swordsmanship during capture the flag, they will be fine."

"Ok, I see your point. Now, what are we doing tonight?"

"I was thinking that we would just hang out and enjoy each others company," I replied, grinning. Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat up beside me.

"What do you mean by enjoying each others company," she asked, raising her eyebrows. My grin widened when several different kinds of thoughts filled my mind but I ignored them. Annabeth shifted slightly so her legs crossed mine and she was facing me. I leaned toward her and kissed her gently and quickly pulled away."Not this game again, Percy, please," she pleaded when I moved to the bed beside mine.

"You're going to have to do more then that to stop me, Annabeth," I said with a smirk. She moved and tried to grab my arm but I jumped out of the way and I moved to the next bed. She followed me and eventually tackled me down onto the floor.

"I win," she said, holding my wrists down. She was straddling my waist and she was leaning over me so she could reach my wrists.

"Gods, Annabeth," I muttered,as she laid down on top of me and released my wrists. "You really didn't want to play the game."

"No, I really didn't," she whispered, her breath mingling with mine. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she kissed me passionately. We rolled over so I was on top and straddling Annabeth. Her fingers tangled in my hair as we continued to kiss.

"Hey, Percy, BlackJack wants y- AHH MY EYES," Grover exclaimed when he walked into the cabin and saw us. I rolled off her and looked at Grover. He was covering his eyes and looked like he was going to puke up his tin cans.

"Come on G-Man, you should be used to it by now," I said, holding back my anger from him interrupting.

"Sorry, but normally Annabeth isn't the one that's never mind," he said, shaking his head. I looked over at Annabeth beside me and she just shrugged.

"So BlackJack wants me," I asked.

"Yeah," Grover said before walking out.

"You want to come," I asked my girlfriend.

"Actually, I'm going to go talk to Will and Jake to see if we can get in some last minute training with the questers," she replied, standing up and fixing her ponytail.

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Bye Percy," she said. She gave me a kiss before walking out of the cabin and heading toward her cabin. I made my way to the stables and grab an apple and some sugar cubs before I walked in. When I entered my mind was filled by the voices of the horses greeting me. I greeted them all before signaling them out and walking to a jet black Pegasus stallion.

"Hey boss," he said in my mind."Are those all for me?"

"Yes BlackJack," I said holding up the apple to him. "How have you been doing?"

"Not bad, Boss, just taking new campers flying though none of them are you good as you," BlackJack replied.

"I hope you haven't thrown any of them off," I said as I gave him the sugar cubs.

"Not yet. Hey Boss, can we go on a ride, I want to stretch my wings?"

"Alright," I said. I opened the door and the Pegasus walked out and flapped his wings a few times. I sat on his bare back and he flew up into the air.

We flew around over the sea and woods for a while until I decided that we have flown enough for one day. I returned him to the stables and headed back to my cabin to get some sleep when the horn was blown for curfew.


	10. Chapter 10

ATCC chapter 10  
Clare  
I woke up the next morning with my body slightly sore from the tough training from the night before. The cabin was empty and there was a note on my pillow that said that I missed breakfast and that the questers were leaving at noon. There was a sudden knock on the cabin door so I groaned and crawled out of the warm bed into the cold morning air. I opened the door and yawned as I walk a Zane who was currently shirtless which made me blush and feel a really uncomfortable.

"What do you want Zane, I just got up," I groaned, embarrassed that he was seeing my before I could even clean myself up.

"I was just going around making sure everyone was up since we are leaving in two hours," he replied. "Kenny and Rue are the early birds of the bunch."

"I already knew Rue was and I don't really care if Kenny is," I retorted as I walked back into the cabin to grab cloths for today.

"Well, anyways, Chiron wants to see us all before we leave," he said standing in the door way.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go take a shower," I said, walking back over to him while hugging my cloths to my chest.

"Oh wait, catch," he said, tossing me something. I caught it and noticed that it was a Nulti-Grain cereal bar. "Though you would want to eat a little breakfast before we had to leave since you slept through breakfast," he shrugged.

"Thanks now get out of my cabin," I ordered playfully as I pointed out the door.

"Okay, geeze, bossy flower," he said walking down the porch steps. I was still on the porch so I was high enough to hit the back of his head. He jumped slightly, turned, and glared at me as I laughed. "Geeze, violent flower."

"Shut up, Hot Head," I snapped. He just smirked and walked away to his cabin. I went to take a shower and changed into the pair of cloths I came to camp in, clean of course. I walked back to the cabin to grab my pack for the quest before I made my way to the Big House.

"Hey Clare," someone called behind me. I turned as Rue ran up to me.

"Hey Rue, what's up," I asked.

"Nothing really, I'm still a little sore from training last night," she replied, rubbing her thigh. I remembered that last night that Jake had struck her there with his spear.

"I am too," I agreed, rubbing my upper arm. During a practice match Zane had cut me though Will healed it it was still slightly bruised. We continued to walk in silence until I decided to ask a slightly chilling question. "Do you think we will actually be able to find and save Dawn?"

"Well, the prophecy didn't say we would fail so I hope we do," she replied.

"Who do you think the lost and stolen are," I asked, recalling the prophecy in my head.

"The stolen is most likely Dawn but the lost is questionable," she said.

"The prophecy said that the stolen was bound to the lost and the night. So the lost might be someone she knows."

"She never told us anything about a dead or missing relative."

"You forgot someone," I said softly, staring at the ground as I stopped walking.

"You don't actually think that," she trailed off, standing in front of me.

"It's possible; I mean he is lost according to the police. They couldn't find a trace of him anywhere," I pointed out.

"Yeah but if he was still alive wouldn't he have come back," she asked.

"Remember what Dawn said, his mother was murdered and he was going to be forced to live with his uncle."

"Oh yeah, wasn't his uncle a major drinker and druggie?"

"Yeah, though the police didn't know that until Elizabeth called the police saying that her uncle was trying to hurt her so she had locked herself in a bathroom closet."

"I'm surprised he would leave without letting anybody know or taking Elizabeth with him."

"Clare, Rue, get up here," someone called from the Big House. We ran onto the porch were Kenny, Zane, Chiron, and Mr. D were sitting along with a man that was covered with eyes that I knew was Argus, the head of camp security.

"What's up," I asked.

"It's time for your first but we must discus something first," Chiron said. "Since the prophecy didn't give directions to your location like they normally do we will provide you with our own knowledge," he continued, pulling out a map of eastern region of the United States. There was a blue dot on the south east border of Kentucky with red dotted deformed shape around it.

"The red dotted line is the border of enemy territory, when entered there is no guaranty that you will come out," Mr. D said.

"What do you mean 'there is no guaranty that you will come out'," Kenny asked, sounding confused.

"It means you may be killed or turn into one of _them_," he replied.

"Who is _them_," I asked, a shiver ran down my shine when I said them.

"They are who may have stolen Dawn," Chiron replied. I shuddered, thinking about my conversation with Rue before we came up. I exchanged a look with her and Zane rested a hand on my shoulder when I shuddered again.

"So your telling us that we have to go there a hope that we are able to come back a live with Dawn," Kenny summed up.

"Yes. Now you will have some help from the inside for we have demigods working from the inside, though we have lost contact with them," Chiron said. "Are main man there is Eric Stanton, a son of Hades. Last time we spoken to him, which was a few weeks ago, he said that he was working on an experimental plan that could help us stop whatever is going on down there. We have no idea what has been going on down there or if Dawn is even there, but I want you to go there anyways and see what's going on."

"So you're basically sending us to our deaths," Zane said.

"Well, no, though it's is possible if we don't get in contact with Eric before you get there," Chiron said. Suddenly there was something shimmering in front of us and shown a boy in an Iris message. The boy had short bleach blonde hair a blue eyes and he was wearing armor on his torso.

"Chiron, please tell me I made real time contact this time," the boy said.

"Eric, why haven't you been contacting us," Chiron asked.

"Long story, I had to make a major distraction to be able to do this. Boss has been disrupting any contract with the outside world so I had to distract her," he replied.

"So she has become suspicious," he muttered, stroking his beard. "So have you learned who she is?"

"Not yet, through I hoping to befriend the new girl that has turned out to be her daughter," Eric replied.

"What new girl," Kenny asked, I could tell he was hoping that it was Dawn and I was hoping the same thing.

"I have only talked to her once; I wasn't able to catch her name though. I believe that her name is Dawn Ocean," Eric said; when he said that he looked a little fidgety. We all exchanged looks of relief and let out sighs.

"Eric, I want you to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't become one of them," Chiron ordered.

"That may be difficult since it seems Brandon, Tony, and Clay are probably going to be at her side all the time," he replied. Everybody froze except Chiron, Mr. D, and Argus, who all gave us weird looks.

"Brandon who," Zane asked, though it sounded more like he was demanded it.

"Brandon McSiver I think, why," Eric replied, confused. We all exchanged especially me and Rue.

"Brandon went missing a few months ago when his mom was murdered, the police couldn't find a trace of him anywhere after about a week of searching," Rue said, her voice shaking.

"The Boss likes to cover her followers trail so the gods can't see where the missing children went," Eric said. "He must have found this place around that time."

"Is he a demigod," Chiron asked.

"Yeah, he's a son of Zeus. He hangs out with a son of Apollo and a son of Triton."

"Triton has children? Since when," Mr. D said. "That fish has never had children before."

"There are about five kids here and one of them is a son of the Boss as well," Eric replied.

"How many full godly blooded children are there," Mr. D asked.

"Five, Dawn, son of Ares, daughter of Thanatos, son of Hephaestus, and son of Triton. Dawn's father is still unknown," Eric replied. Suddenly there was a loud bang and screaming. "Shit, they weren't supposed to do that," Eric muttered.

"Eric, I can tell that you can't talk for much longer," Chiron said.

"You got that right," Eric retorted.

"This group is going there to get Dawn, I want you to make sure they are able to get her as safely as possible," Chiron said.

"Got it Chiron, now if you'll excuse me I have to go and try to look like this wasn't my fault," Eric said, saluting before wiping his hand through the mist and disappearing. We all stayed silent after that as Kenny passed around mumbling to himself.

"Well that was helpful, now Chiron give them the key so they can leave," Mr. D said, breaking the silence.

"You will find the car on the road just outside the border," Chiron said, tossing Kenny a key. He nodded and led the way to the road. "Good luck," Chiron said as we walked off the porch.

"I'm driving," Zane said, snatching the key out of Kenny's hand.

"I think that I should drive," I said randomly.

"Yeah, right," Zane snorted. I glared at him and tried to snatch the key from him. He pulled his hand away and wiggled a finger at me. "Aw aw, flower," he smirked.

"Come on, Zane, please," I pleaded, giving him my best puppy dog face. He blushed slightly and turned away from me.

"Aw, come on, Zane, let her drive," Rue said in a baby voice. I laughed and Zane's face turned redder which made me laugh harder.

"Next rest stop," he replied quietly. I hung my head in fake disappointment in hope Zane would give me the key anyways but he just patted my back. I straightened up and glared at him.

"Come on guys, stop messing around," Kenny called from beside a dark red SUV. We ran over and we threw our packs in the back. Rue and I sat in the back while Zane drove and Kenny sat shot gun. Zane and Kenny argued about what radio station to listen to until I pulled out a CD that I made that had all of our favorite songs.

We drove for hours until Zane pulled into a rest stop. We went to the restroom first thing and then we just walked around, stretching our legs. Kenny shot leaves out of the air and trees while the rest of us ate lunch.

"Come on, Kenny, eat something. We're half way there so eat," Rue said. Kenny ignored her and continued to shot leaves. She grabbed a sub sandwich and walked over to him.

"You think there is something he isn't telling us," I asked Zane.

"Maybe, or he is just worried about losing Dawn. They have gotten really close since Dawn got over Brandon's disappearance," he replied.

"True, they did spend a bunch of time together," I agreed. Rue walked back over a few moments later with put the sub.

"At least he's willing to eat some," she said.

"Yeah, but not till someone talks enough sense into him," Zane pointed out.

"At he hasn't completely lost it yet," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's just a matter of time till he does," Zane muttered. I raised an eyebrow questionably but didn't say anything.

"Let's keep moving, I want to be near the border before we stop for the night," Kenny said as he walked over and changed his bow back into a switch blade.

"That reminds me, I get to drive," I said holding out my hand to Zane. He rolled his eyes and gave my five before walking to the driver's side. "No fair, you said I could drive after this rest stop."

"I never promised or swore on the River of Styx," he pointed out before starting the car.  
I groaned and climbed in back with Rue. Kenny took the passenger seat and we drove back onto the highway as we continued driving toward the south east border of Kentucky.

"Are we there yet," Zane yawned loudly, waking up Rue and I. I groaned and stretched the best I could in a car seat that had barely any leg room.

"We're trying to sleep back here, Zane," I yawned, glaring at him.

"Well I want to sleeps. So can we stop for the night," he asked Kenny, who was looking at a map in his lap.

"Get off the next exit and try to find a motel for us to stay at," he replied with a yawn.

"Good, cause I don't know how much longer I can take being stuck in this SUV," Rue said. We all laughed in agreement as Zane turned off the highway into a small town.

"How about Red Roof Inn," Zane asked as we drove down a road lined with motels and fast food places.

"Works for me," Kenny said and Rue and I nodded in agreement. He pulled into the parking lot by the main entrance and turned off the car.

"Who's got money," Kenny asked before we could get out.

"I have my credit card," Zane said. "I have enough money to pay for weeks stay here so no worries."

"Okay, Zane check us in and we'll get the bags," Kenny said and Zane walked inside. I jumped out and walked in circles to stretch.

"Tomorrow better be eventful," I said.

"I hope so, if it's not I'm going to loss it completely," Kenny agreed. Rue patted his shoulder as she grabbed her pack and tossed me mine.

"Okay, we're in. Girls are in room thirty-six and we have room thirty-seven, just across the hall from them," Zane said when he walked out a few minutes later. He handed us each our own key card before he grabbed his pack. We walked inside looking for our rooms which took us a while since Zane decided to take the long way around.

The rooms were boring; two queen sized beds, a nice sized TV, and a small full bathroom. I threw my pack on the bed closest to the door and went to the restroom. When I came out Rue was watching the news.

"Who knew that we we're this important," she said when she saw me. I looked at her confused and listened to the TV news caster.

"This jeep was found with a flat tire on the side of a highway in Pennsylvania a week ago," she said and a picture of Kenny's jeep came up in the corner. "The police has informed us that the jeep belongs to Kenny Marthon, one of the missing kids from Cedar City, Ohio. If you spot any of these kids please call this number immediately." I picture of a group picture of Rue, Zane, Kenny, Dawn, and I covered the screen and a phone number appeared at the bottom of the screen.

"Well, I feel loved now," I laughed; Rue just shook her head and smiled. Just then Zane and Kenny knocked on the door and walked in when I opened it.

"Did you guys see the news," Kenny asked.

"Well duh," I replied.

"Didn't Eric say the Boss always covers the tracks of her followers," he asked.

"That's why Grover couldn't find a trace of her in the forest," Rue said, jumping up to her feet. "The only reason the police have a trace is because of us."

"I say we discuss this tomorrow and get some much needed sleep now," Zane said falling onto the bed I was standing beside. He faked snoring until I hit him in the stomach. He made a growling noise before grabbing me and pulled me down with him. I screamed slightly as I fell back on his chest. Rue and Kenny cracked up laughing as Zane tickled me. I tried to pry his hands away so I could get up but he was to strong.

"Let me go Zane," I pleaded. He stopped tickling me but kept his hold around my waist.

"Come on Zane, let her go so they can get some sleep," Kenny said when he managed to stop laughing.

"But but," Zane said in a little kid voice.

"Come on Zane, you'll see her tomorrow," Kenny said, walking towards the door. Zane groaned but let me go and followed Kenny out of the room.

"Well, that was funny," Rue giggled.

"Shut up," I said, throwing a pillow at her before moving to my bed.

"I wonder why he hasn't asked you out yet," she said, turning off the TV.

"We're not getting on that subject again," I said, pointing at her before taking spare cloths out of my pack.

"Fine, but if he doesn't out soon I'm going to ask him why," she said. My eyes widened but I didn't say anything as I retreated to the bathroom to change. When we were both changed into our spare cloths we turned put the lights and went to bed for the night.


	11. Chapter 11

ATCC chapter 11  
Kenny  
That night I tried to dream about all the good times I had with Dawn but instead I found myself standing in the middle of a room I have never seen before. The room had two twin beds; one with a sun design and the other with a storm design. The walls were painted a pale orange and the carpet was black with a yellow sun and a blue lightning bolt striking over the sun. The floor was littered with candy wrappers and a bunch of dirty cloths. On the bed with a storm design was Brandon though I could barely recognize him. His hair was longer and darker, his skin was paler, and he was buffer though that was probably from all the training he is doing. Beside him was Dawn, she was kneeling beside the bed. She had also changed but not by much; her hair was shorter and choppy slightly, she was wearing darker colors than she normally did, and she seemed skinnier which wasn't good at my prospective. They were both glaring at the door. In the doorway stood a tall woman that was dressed in all black clothing. She had pure black wavy hair that went half way down her back and dark black eyes. She was wearing a black cloak that covered her completely and gathered at her feet. She was holding the door against the wall as she stared at Brandon and Dawn.

"Boss," Brandon gasped. I felt shivers going down my spine when I realized who was standing in the door way. I stared at the Boss in horror as I prayed to my dad that she wouldn't see me.

"Mom, what are you doing here," Dawn asked standing up, shaking. I shuddered when Dawn called Boss 'Mom'.

"Tony told me you were here and I need to talk to you about something," she replied in a cold, chilling voice. I swear that she glared at my for a second because Dawn glanced in my direction though she didn't to see me like the Boss did.

"Well, I'm here so what do you need to talk to me about," Dawn asked.

"Not here, come to my office when you're healed," Boss replied. She waved a hand in my direction and pain shot threw my body as darkness fell over me.

I sat up quickly and sighed when I noticed I was back in my motel room with a snoring Zane. I looked at the clock on the night table between the beds. It read seven forty-six so I threw one of my pillows at Zane's head.

"Is a monster attacking," Zane exclaimed jumping to his feet on the bed.

"Whoa Zane chill," I said as I grabbed some jeans and a T-shirt. I changed quickly as Zane went to see if the girls were up. I heard a squeal from the other room so I shook my head and chuckled. Zane ran back into the room and slammed the door behind him. "What did you do this time?"

"I kinda pulled the sheets out from under Clare," he replied, blushing.

"If you like her so much why don't you just ask her out already," I asked, shaking my head. "Wait; don't ask her till after the quest and we get Dawn back."

"Whatever, man," he said before he went to the bathroom with his pack. I heard a knock on our room door so I opened it to an angry Clare and a giggle happy Rue.

"What can I do for you," I asked leaning on the door frame.

"We're ready to go, there is a free breakfast in the lobby so we can grab a good meal before we leave," Rue replied.

"Alright," I said, retesting into the room to grab my back pack. "Zane, we're going to the free breakfast in the lobby and then we're leaving!"

"Alright, I'll be there in a sec," he replied from the bathroom. Clare led the way to the van so we could load up our bags before getting breakfast. Zane came in from loading up his bag and stole one of Clare's sausages.

"Hey," she complained, glaring at him. "You are rising to the top of my 'kill list'," she said pointing her plastic fork at him.

"Whatever," he said before walking away to get his breakfast.

"I'm going to go sign us out," I said and everyone gave me their key cards. When I came back Zane was throwing away his trash.

"Okay, let's hit the road," he said, stretching his arms over his head. Clare waved a hand in front of her nose as she took a few steps away from him.

"Ever heard of deodorant," she asked, fake coughing.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," he protested, sniffing his own arm pit. The other people eating their breakfast looked at our group strangely.

"Let's just go," I said, walking out to the SUV with Zane, Clare, and Rue behind me. "We should only have to drive a couple more miles but we will have to walk when we get to the border."

"Are you serious," Clare groaned.

"Aww, come on, flower, it won't be that bad," Zane said as he sat in the drivers seat.

"We'll see," Clare grumbled, glaring at him. Zane drove onto the highway that went south toward Virginia.

"Hey guys, hmm, I have something to tell you," I said, breaking the silence.

"Does it have anything to do with you gasping and groaning in your sleep," Zane asked, giving me a weird look.

"Kenny was gasping and groaning in his sleep," Clare repeated. "This is going to be good."

"Nothing like that you two, geeze," I snapped.

"Ignore them and continue Kenny," Rue said hitting Clare's shoulder and the back of Zane's head.

"Hey, don't hit the driver unless you want there to be an accident," he exclaimed.

"Anyways," Clare said loudly.

"Last night I had a dream that I was where ever Dawn and Brandon are. They were in what looked like a dorm room with two beds and the floor was covered in dirty cloths," I explained.

"Sounds like Zane's room," Clare retorted.

"You would know," Rue said accusingly.

"I still don't understand why you put your little brother through that," Clare said, ignoring Rue's comment.

"The room wasn't as bad as Zane's room though that was probably because it was bigger," I said, trying to get them back on topic. "I saw the Boss."

"What? Are you serious, who was she," Clare exclaimed, grabbing the back of my seat.

"I have no idea who she is, I just know that she was the Boss and she was for a fact Dawn's mom," I replied.

"How do we know that this actually happened," Rue asked.

"The Boss hurt me somehow, though she was the only one that actually noticed me," I replied.

"So why did you gasp in your sleep," Zane asked.

"Probably from see Dawn, Brandon, and the Boss," I shrugged.

"And the moan," he asked.

"Probably when the Boss hurt me, which also woke me up," I replied. "Are done interrogating me now?"

"Nope," Zane replied, grinning. "Are we there yet?"

"Couple more miles there buddy," I said patting his shoulder. Suddenly car horns blared around use and Zane jerked the wheel madly. "What the hell, Zane," I exclaimed when my head hit the window.

"Monsters at twelve o'clock," Rue screamed. In front of us was a group of weird snake ladies; they had a women's torso bit a snake tail, yellow snake eyes, and scaly skin.

"Shit," Zane cursed as he jerked the wheel. The car slid on the pavement as other cars drove off the road.

"The Boss must have sent them out when she saw you last night," Rue yelled over the car horns.

"That's just what we need right now," I muttered. "Get Ready For Battle!" Clair climbed into the very back of the SUV and handed up two swords to Rue. Zane pulled out a small remote from his pockets and slammed the brakes as the car slid side ways on the road. After I recovered from nearly slamming my head on the dash board I climbed out the window and on top of the SUV. I changed my switch blade into a bow and started taking aim at the monsters as the advanced. Zane, Clare, and Rue were standing nearby, a sword each ready for battle. I shot my first arrow and knock a spear out of the hand of a snake lady and with that Zane and Rue ran forward and started fighting the monsters as Clare stayed back to take down any monster that got past them. I continued to shot monster after down and most of the exploded into yellow dust.

"Kenny," I heard Clare yell from somewhere in the crowd of monsters. I spotted her black hair and notice she was completely surrounded and Zane and Rue were on the opposite side. I shot arrows rapidly at the monsters and gave Clare to catch her breath before going back to shooting the monsters near me.

After a while the crowd thinned and disappeared. Zane and Rue limped over slowly while Zane slightly carried Clare. I jumped off the roof of the SUV and changed my bow back into a switch blade. I pulled out the first aid kit and gave them all ambrosia as I cleaned some of the more severe wounds. In the distance sirens were going off and getting closer.

"We've got to go before we get caught," I said. We all grabbed our packs and I stuffed the first aid kit in mine along with the map. Clare and Rue put on belts with sword sheaths to make carrying the swords easier and Zane made sure he got rid of any signs of us being here before we ran into a nearby forest just before police cars pulled up. We walked for what felt like days but was only about a few hours before we took a rest.

"Do we even know where we're at," Rue asked, pulling a water bottle out of her bag.

"Not a clue," I replied. Rue tossed me the bottle after she got a drink.

"Give me the map, I might be able to figure it out," Clare said, as she passed a water bottle to Zane. I tossed her the map and took a drink from the bottle Rue had passed to me.

"Let's see if the nature girl would be able to figure it out while were in the middle of nowhere," Zane retorted. Clare kicked his shin as she looked at the map. "Ow, geeze flower girl," he said while rubbing his shin.

"We're only a few yards from the border," Clare said, ignoring him. She walked over to me and pointed to our current location. "We need to go south."

"Should we try calling Chiron or Eric first," Rue asked.

"I think we're on our own till we get caught or the Boss decides to let us in," I replied.

"Besides if we call Eric he could loose his cover as well as our own," Clare pointed out.

"Should we keep moving or wait a bit longer," I asked.

"Let's keep going while I'm still having the adrenaline rush," Zane replied, and the girls nodded. I folded up the map and stuffed it in my bag before we headed into the enemy territory and possibly the end of our lives.

"How much farther," Rue asked, I could tell that she was trying to not sound like she's complaining.

"Another quarter mile, I think," Clare replied.

"You think? You said that a mile ago," Zane snapped.

"Don't snap at me, I'm trying my best," Clare snapped back.

"Why don't we rest for a bit," I suggested, with that Zane and Clare quickly sat down on the ground.

"Did you even have to ask," Rue laughed as she sat down.

"Probably not," I shrugged as I sat down beside her.

"Hey Kenny can I see that map," Clare asked, so I tossed the map to her like a frisbee.

"Please tell me we haven't been walking in circles," Zane pleaded as he looked over Clare's shoulder.

"We haven't been walking in circles it's more like we walked right past the place," she said.

"Is the possible? Wouldn't we have seen it," Rue asked.

"Want to back track," I asked.

"It's getting dark, maybe we should get out of here a camp put for the night," Clare pointed out, pointing to the sky above us.

"I agree with Clare," Zane said. "It's time to turn it in for the night."

"Alright, Clare, lead us the fastest way out of here," I said. Before Clare could say anything pure darkness fell over us and we could hear deep growling. Rue grabbed my arm tightly and Clare gasped. Something growled in my ear before I felt something grip my other arm.

"Bring them to base boys," a voice ordered.

"On it Boss," a male voice replied and it was followed by Clare screaming but it was muffled after a moment.

"Hey let he-," Zane growled but was cut off. Rue's grip on my arm disappeared as she screamed. I turned my head in her direction but a hand cupped my mouth and jerked me in the opposite direction. Something hit the back of my head as someone tied my wrists together. I groaned as I was hit in the head again, gagged, and pulled to my feet.

"Get walking, all of you," a voice behind me ordered and pushed me forward. I stumbled until I was able to gain my balance and was continuously pushed forward. After being pushed for about a half a mile, I think, something hit the pressure point on my neck and knocked me out.

"Is he a wake yet, Tony," a male voice asked.

"Partly, but it will take sometime before he is in any condition to talk," another male voice replied.

"I don't think Austin will be happy to hear that. He's was supposed to talk to him an hour ago," the first voice said.

"Austin is going to have to get over it. No one can speed this healing process," Tony snapped. "Tell him to go check on one of the girls, they should be ready now, Jarred."

"Alright, but if he yells at me I'm blaming you," Jarred said as footsteps left the room.

"Hey man, can you hear me, I know you're awake," Tony said as something tapped my shoulder. "I swear I'm not going to hurt you." I stretched my figures that were just curled in a fist. "There ya' go, get your body back in control," he said encouragingly. I stretched my arms and legs before opening my eyes and looking up at the boy standing beside my bed. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat over a dark teal shirt and dark blue ripped jeans.

"Where am I," I asked, sitting up.

"Sorry but that's classified," Tony replied. "Let's start with your name."

"That's classified until you tell me where I am," I replied, stretching my back by grabbing my toes.

"You're in the Boss's base infirmary, that's literally all I know," he replied, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Kenny," I said, deciding to not tell him my whole name or who my godly parent was.

"That's all you're going to tell me," he asked. I nodded and he sighed. "Well I'm Tony Devenardo, son of Apollo."

My eyes widened, 'This guy is my half brother, shit,' I thought.

"How did you know I was a half-blood," I asked.

"I gave you nectar and you didn't burn up," he shrugged. "What can you tell me about you friends that you came in with?"

"Who," I asked, trying to act dumb.

"The two girls and the big black guy," he replied as he wrote stuff on a clipboard.

"Oh them, their just a few people I ran into while I was traveling," I lied. Suddenly there was a long blare that could only come from an intercom.

"What," Tony yelled.

"Boss wants them all in the cafeteria cage ASAP," a voice replied.

"Alright," Tony said and the intercom blared again. "Why hasn't Harleese fixed that yet," he muttered as he pulled me out of the bed.

"Who," I asked confused as he pulled me out of the room.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, pulling me down the hall. "All you need to worry about what Boss decides to do about you." he opened a door to a pitch black room and pushed me inside and locked the door behind me. A little light flickered on in the middle of the room revealing the metal walls, floor, and cyling.

"Kenny are you okay," someone asked behind me. I turned and saw Rue. I smiled when I saw Clare and Zane behind her.

"I'm fine, how about the rest of you guys," I asked.

"We're fine, except for Zane," Clare replied. "They were really rough with him because he was giving up a good fight."

"Give him more time to rest then he'll be fine," I said. "Wish I had some nectar or ambrosia though."

"I got some," Rue said, pulling a ziploc bag out her pocket and handing it to me. I pulled out an ambrosia cube and knelt down beside Zane who groaned as I did so.

"Zane, eat the ambrosia, please," Clare said softly. Zane opened his mouth so I could drop it in. He choked on it for a second but he eventually ate it. "Feeling any better," she asked after a few moments.

"Yeah," he replied, standing up. He nearly fell over but Clare and I caught him. "I'm okay," he said as Clare sat him back on the floor.

"You need to rest Zane," I said. Zane hung his head and Clare rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"I wonder why they called this the cafeteria cage," Rue said.

"Maybe it has food," Zane said. We all laughed until the wall to my right started to creek and bright light started to fill the room. I held a hand up to block some of the light until my eyes adjusted to the new light. Were the wall used to be was a bunch of bars that were close enough together that not even Rue or Clare could squeeze through them. On the other side of the bars was a large room that had rows of tables and benches. On the benches sat thousands of kids under eighteen.

"I think I know why it's called the cafeteria cage," Clare whispered.

"Shush it, Clare," Rue whisper snapped. I could tell that we were all wishing our weapons weren't confiscated. I stepped away from the bars slowly as the kids started talking to each other.

"Followers, these people are trespassers. They work for the gods, the ones that ignore and resent you," a female said from somewhere to the right of the cage. A bunch of the kids boo'd and tried to throw food at us. I dodge sausages and pieces of pancakes as Rue, Zane, and Clare dodged whatever flew past me.

"Hey," Zane yelled when a whole pancake hit his shoulder. Clare giggled slightly but put her hands up in her defense when Zane glared at her.

"I wasn't laughing," she said, turning her head so he couldn't see her face. I shook my head as the food throwing stopped.

"What should we do to them as punishment," the female said as she stepped into view. I froze when I saw her and my eyes widened. I recognized her as the Boss; her hair and cloak was the same but now I could tell what she was wearing underneath. She was wearing a black blouse that had a silver design of a moon with a black slash through it, black skinny jeans, and knee high black platform boots; all under her black cloak.

"Fight," one kid shouted.

"Training dummies," another shouted, standing up. She hade messy bronze colored hair that was braided down her back and her bangs slightly hid her scary brown eyes. She was wearing a dark teal shirt, like Tony was earlier, and baggy blue jeans.

"Yeah, I'm sure that they'll make great moving targets," the first kid agreed.

"I think the black guy will be an easy target," the girl smirked.

"Give me my remote back and we'll see who is the better target," Zane growled, gripping the bars. Clare stepped forward and grabbed his arm as the kids started to murmur to each other.

"Zane, relax," Clare whispered to Zane. He let put a long sigh and loosened his grip as he looked at Clare. Suddenly darkness fell over them like a shadow as they both cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Rue knelt beside them as I glared at the Boss.

"Leave them alone," I snapped and mentally prepared myself for whatever she was going to me.

"Leave them alone they haven't done anything wrong," a familiar voice shouted over the crowd. My eyes widened and I glanced at Rue, Clare, and Zane who were reacting the same way I was. Stepping away from the tables was Dawn her eyes fixed on the Boss and Brandon was standing right behind her.

'Here comes the drama and fighting,' I thought, as an ice started forming over the cell bars. We all stepped away as ice webbed over the bars like a spider web would. "She's improved,'' I muttered.

"They have trespassed into my territory and have already threatened us, Dawn. I have a right to hurt them," the Boss said.

"I don't care if you believe you have a right, it's not how it should be handled, Nyx," Dawn snapped.

"Wait did she say Nyx," Zane asked, quietly.

"That's what I heard," Clare whispered.

"Nyx the goddess of the night," Rue whispered.

"You all quiet now," Nyx snapped, glaring at us. "You listen hear, Dawn. This is my territory that the trespassed into so they have get the consequences."

"I'm sure they have a perfectly good reason on why they trespassed just hear them out," Dawn insisted and the crowd murmured in agreement.

"Fine," Nyx sighed. "Why are you here," she asked us. I glanced at Rue, hoping that she had already thought of a good lie. Rue shrugged and shook her head as in to say that I shouldn't say anything at all. "Answer me," Nyx ordered as darkness gather around our feet, but we all kept quiet. The darkness reached up like arms a wrapping around our necks.

"Let them go," Dawn pleaded, running up to Nyx. I gasped for air as it tightened around my neck. I reached up by instinct and tried to loosen its grip but my hands passed right through it. "Kenny," she yelled and then I felt coldness on my neck. The darkness strangling me disappeared and so did the darkness.

"Dawn, my office, now," Nyx roared before grabbing Dawn's should and pulling her away. The ice on the cell bars disappeared along with the darkness at our feet. There was a long silence until someone cleared their throat. After that everyone went back to eating and talking.

"What do you think she's trying to do," Clare asked quietly so only we could hear.

"Apparently, Nyx has something against the rest of the gods and using confused kids to help her," Rue shrugged.

"Hey guys," someone said from the cell bars. We all turned to them and noticed it was none other than Brandon McSiver, our old friend.

"Brandon, what are you doing in this place," Rue asked, going up to the bars.

"This is the only place I found that would take a creep like me," he replied.

"What about Camp Half-Blood," I asked, confused.

"They wouldn't accept me after everything I've done here," he said, shaking his head.

"Yes they would, it doesn't matter to them if you came here first or not they will take you," Rue pointed out though I don't think she completely believed what she just said.

"I doubt that anyways I like it here," he said.

"What," we all exclaimed in disbelief.

"What," Brandon asked confused.

"You're on the wrong side," Rue said.

"What's wrong with you man, here you are going against your dad, whoever he is," Zane said.

"My dad doesn't care about me, he didn't claim me we had to figure is out from my powers just like Dawn though we haven't figured who he is yet," Brandon said.

"Dawn's step dad turned out to be a monster and a couple college kids saved her and then a group of monsters attacked her, Rue, and me at the ice ring and the same college kids saved us from them," I explained. "Those college kids are from Camp Half-Blood."

"So the stupid camp sends kids out to there deaths, exactly why I'm not going," Brandon said.

"Those kids are the best Camp Half-Blood has and they risk their lives all the time," Clare put in. "I bet kids die here everyday!"

"Not everyday," Brandon muttered. "That's not the point!"

"Then what is, Brandon," Zane asked.

"All you are doing here is keeping Dawn away from being safe," I added. I was getting seriously mad now, didn't he realize the danger Dawn was in for being here?

"She is safe here, monsters won't attack unless ordered to and sense she is a daughter of the Boss and some sea god she is more powerful then the demigods," Brandon spat, glaring at me. "I am keeping her safe, do you even know what she is capable of?"

"We're well aware of her powers, we have known about them almost as long as she has," I replied.

"Then you shouldn't be worried about Dawn's safety. She is a big girl now, Kenny, she can take care of herself, she doesn't need you watching her back all the time," he snapped.

"I'm the one that stopped her stepsister from getting Dawn expelled while you did absolutely nothing about it," I pointed out. "I don't know why she still likes you; you left her AND Elizabeth behind."

"Elizabeth choose to stay with our drunk uncle, I tried to convince her that it was a bad idea but she wouldn't listen," he snapped. "And I didn't tell Dawn cause she would find a way to convince me to stay or she would come with me and I didn't want to take her away from her friends and family."

"When you left she believed you would come back after you were able to cool down from your mom's death but when the police lost your trail she completely broke down. I was the one there for her, I was the one that kept her from blaming herself, I AM THE ONE THAT HELPED HER FORGET ABOUT YOU AND MOVE ON," I yelled. Rue grabbed my arm before I could try to punch Brandon through the bars.

"I always knew you were jealous, you have been ever since Dawn started showing interest in me. But guess what, get over it she has already said that she is glad to see me and doesn't want to leave," Brandon said before walking away. I breathed heavily before turning to punch a wall. It hurt like hell but I didn't care all I cared about was getting Dawn back safely even if I had to go through Brandon to do it.

"Kenny, calm down, we can get Dawn back," Rue said softly, rubbing my shoulder.

"He is the reason she is still here, she knows that she should be at Camp Half-Blood but he is what is keeping her here," I said, trying to calm myself down.

"The prophecy said that we had to break the bond the stole had to the lost right," Clare asked.

"Dawn is the stole so Brandon must be the lost," Zane added.

"We have to brake up Dawn and Brandon," I concluded, smiling slightly.

"Zane do you still have that one thing built into your shoe," Rue asked. I forgot about that, before we left camp for the quest Zane had built a magical blow torch in his shoe incase we got caught.

"Yeah, unless they replaced my shoes with replicas," he replied, looking at the bottom of his left shoe.

"When everyone goes to bed we can use it to get out of here," Clare said, slightly jumping.

"Let's just hope we don't get guarded over night," I pointed put and they all nodded. We sat down in the back of the cage and watched the kids slowly leave the cafeteria and the cleaning monster, I think, grumble up all the trash.


	12. Chapter 12

ATCC chapter 11  
Kenny  
That night I tried to dream about all the good times I had with Dawn but instead I found myself standing in the middle of a room I have never seen before. The room had two twin beds; one with a sun design and the other with a storm design. The walls were painted a pale orange and the carpet was black with a yellow sun and a blue lightning bolt striking over the sun. The floor was littered with candy wrappers and a bunch of dirty cloths. On the bed with a storm design was Brandon though I could barely recognize him. His hair was longer and darker, his skin was paler, and he was buffer though that was probably from all the training he is doing. Beside him was Dawn, she was kneeling beside the bed. She had also changed but not by much; her hair was shorter and choppy slightly, she was wearing darker colors than she normally did, and she seemed skinnier which wasn't good at my prospective. They were both glaring at the door. In the doorway stood a tall woman that was dressed in all black clothing. She had pure black wavy hair that went half way down her back and dark black eyes. She was wearing a black cloak that covered her completely and gathered at her feet. She was holding the door against the wall as she stared at Brandon and Dawn.

"Boss," Brandon gasped. I felt shivers going down my spine when I realized who was standing in the door way. I stared at the Boss in horror as I prayed to my dad that she wouldn't see me.

"Mom, what are you doing here," Dawn asked standing up, shaking. I shuddered when Dawn called Boss 'Mom'.

"Tony told me you were here and I need to talk to you about something," she replied in a cold, chilling voice. I swear that she glared at my for a second because Dawn glanced in my direction though she didn't to see me like the Boss did.

"Well, I'm here so what do you need to talk to me about," Dawn asked.

"Not here, come to my office when you're healed," Boss replied. She waved a hand in my direction and pain shot threw my body as darkness fell over me.

I sat up quickly and sighed when I noticed I was back in my motel room with a snoring Zane. I looked at the clock on the night table between the beds. It read seven forty-six so I threw one of my pillows at Zane's head.

"Is a monster attacking," Zane exclaimed jumping to his feet on the bed.

"Whoa Zane chill," I said as I grabbed some jeans and a T-shirt. I changed quickly as Zane went to see if the girls were up. I heard a squeal from the other room so I shook my head and chuckled. Zane ran back into the room and slammed the door behind him. "What did you do this time?"

"I kinda pulled the sheets out from under Clare," he replied, blushing.

"If you like her so much why don't you just ask her out already," I asked, shaking my head. "Wait; don't ask her till after the quest and we get Dawn back."

"Whatever, man," he said before he went to the bathroom with his pack. I heard a knock on our room door so I opened it to an angry Clare and a giggle happy Rue.

"What can I do for you," I asked leaning on the door frame.

"We're ready to go, there is a free breakfast in the lobby so we can grab a good meal before we leave," Rue replied.

"Alright," I said, retesting into the room to grab my back pack. "Zane, we're going to the free breakfast in the lobby and then we're leaving!"

"Alright, I'll be there in a sec," he replied from the bathroom. Clare led the way to the van so we could load up our bags before getting breakfast. Zane came in from loading up his bag and stole one of Clare's sausages.

"Hey," she complained, glaring at him. "You are rising to the top of my 'kill list'," she said pointing her plastic fork at him.

"Whatever," he said before walking away to get his breakfast.

"I'm going to go sign us out," I said and everyone gave me their key cards. When I came back Zane was throwing away his trash.

"Okay, let's hit the road," he said, stretching his arms over his head. Clare waved a hand in front of her nose as she took a few steps away from him.

"Ever heard of deodorant," she asked, fake coughing.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," he protested, sniffing his own arm pit. The other people eating their breakfast looked at our group strangely.

"Let's just go," I said, walking out to the SUV with Zane, Clare, and Rue behind me. "We should only have to drive a couple more miles but we will have to walk when we get to the border."

"Are you serious," Clare groaned.

"Aww, come on, flower, it won't be that bad," Zane said as he sat in the drivers seat.

"We'll see," Clare grumbled, glaring at him. Zane drove onto the highway that went south toward Virginia.

"Hey guys, hmm, I have something to tell you," I said, breaking the silence.

"Does it have anything to do with you gasping and groaning in your sleep," Zane asked, giving me a weird look.

"Kenny was gasping and groaning in his sleep," Clare repeated. "This is going to be good."

"Nothing like that you two, geeze," I snapped.

"Ignore them and continue Kenny," Rue said hitting Clare's shoulder and the back of Zane's head.

"Hey, don't hit the driver unless you want there to be an accident," he exclaimed.

"Anyways," Clare said loudly.

"Last night I had a dream that I was where ever Dawn and Brandon are. They were in what looked like a dorm room with two beds and the floor was covered in dirty cloths," I explained.

"Sounds like Zane's room," Clare retorted.

"You would know," Rue said accusingly.

"I still don't understand why you put your little brother through that," Clare said, ignoring Rue's comment.

"The room wasn't as bad as Zane's room though that was probably because it was bigger," I said, trying to get them back on topic. "I saw the Boss."

"What? Are you serious, who was she," Clare exclaimed, grabbing the back of my seat.

"I have no idea who she is, I just know that she was the Boss and she was for a fact Dawn's mom," I replied.

"How do we know that this actually happened," Rue asked.

"The Boss hurt me somehow, though she was the only one that actually noticed me," I replied.

"So why did you gasp in your sleep," Zane asked.

"Probably from see Dawn, Brandon, and the Boss," I shrugged.

"And the moan," he asked.

"Probably when the Boss hurt me, which also woke me up," I replied. "Are done interrogating me now?"

"Nope," Zane replied, grinning. "Are we there yet?"

"Couple more miles there buddy," I said patting his shoulder. Suddenly car horns blared around use and Zane jerked the wheel madly. "What the hell, Zane," I exclaimed when my head hit the window.

"Monsters at twelve o'clock," Rue screamed. In front of us was a group of weird snake ladies; they had a women's torso bit a snake tail, yellow snake eyes, and scaly skin.

"Shit," Zane cursed as he jerked the wheel. The car slid on the pavement as other cars drove off the road.

"The Boss must have sent them out when she saw you last night," Rue yelled over the car horns.

"That's just what we need right now," I muttered. "Get Ready For Battle!" Clair climbed into the very back of the SUV and handed up two swords to Rue. Zane pulled out a small remote from his pockets and slammed the brakes as the car slid side ways on the road. After I recovered from nearly slamming my head on the dash board I climbed out the window and on top of the SUV. I changed my switch blade into a bow and started taking aim at the monsters as the advanced. Zane, Clare, and Rue were standing nearby, a sword each ready for battle. I shot my first arrow and knock a spear out of the hand of a snake lady and with that Zane and Rue ran forward and started fighting the monsters as Clare stayed back to take down any monster that got past them. I continued to shot monster after down and most of the exploded into yellow dust.

"Kenny," I heard Clare yell from somewhere in the crowd of monsters. I spotted her black hair and notice she was completely surrounded and Zane and Rue were on the opposite side. I shot arrows rapidly at the monsters and gave Clare to catch her breath before going back to shooting the monsters near me.

After a while the crowd thinned and disappeared. Zane and Rue limped over slowly while Zane slightly carried Clare. I jumped off the roof of the SUV and changed my bow back into a switch blade. I pulled out the first aid kit and gave them all ambrosia as I cleaned some of the more severe wounds. In the distance sirens were going off and getting closer.

"We've got to go before we get caught," I said. We all grabbed our packs and I stuffed the first aid kit in mine along with the map. Clare and Rue put on belts with sword sheaths to make carrying the swords easier and Zane made sure he got rid of any signs of us being here before we ran into a nearby forest just before police cars pulled up. We walked for what felt like days but was only about a few hours before we took a rest.

"Do we even know where we're at," Rue asked, pulling a water bottle out of her bag.

"Not a clue," I replied. Rue tossed me the bottle after she got a drink.

"Give me the map, I might be able to figure it out," Clare said, as she passed a water bottle to Zane. I tossed her the map and took a drink from the bottle Rue had passed to me.

"Let's see if the nature girl would be able to figure it out while were in the middle of nowhere," Zane retorted. Clare kicked his shin as she looked at the map. "Ow, geeze flower girl," he said while rubbing his shin.

"We're only a few yards from the border," Clare said, ignoring him. She walked over to me and pointed to our current location. "We need to go south."

"Should we try calling Chiron or Eric first," Rue asked.

"I think we're on our own till we get caught or the Boss decides to let us in," I replied.

"Besides if we call Eric he could loose his cover as well as our own," Clare pointed out.

"Should we keep moving or wait a bit longer," I asked.

"Let's keep going while I'm still having the adrenaline rush," Zane replied, and the girls nodded. I folded up the map and stuffed it in my bag before we headed into the enemy territory and possibly the end of our lives.

"How much farther," Rue asked, I could tell that she was trying to not sound like she's complaining.

"Another quarter mile, I think," Clare replied.

"You think? You said that a mile ago," Zane snapped.

"Don't snap at me, I'm trying my best," Clare snapped back.

"Why don't we rest for a bit," I suggested, with that Zane and Clare quickly sat down on the ground.

"Did you even have to ask," Rue laughed as she sat down.

"Probably not," I shrugged as I sat down beside her.

"Hey Kenny can I see that map," Clare asked, so I tossed the map to her like a frisbee.

"Please tell me we haven't been walking in circles," Zane pleaded as he looked over Clare's shoulder.

"We haven't been walking in circles it's more like we walked right past the place," she said.

"Is the possible? Wouldn't we have seen it," Rue asked.

"Want to back track," I asked.

"It's getting dark, maybe we should get out of here a camp put for the night," Clare pointed out, pointing to the sky above us.

"I agree with Clare," Zane said. "It's time to turn it in for the night."

"Alright, Clare, lead us the fastest way out of here," I said. Before Clare could say anything pure darkness fell over us and we could hear deep growling. Rue grabbed my arm tightly and Clare gasped. Something growled in my ear before I felt something grip my other arm.

"Bring them to base boys," a voice ordered.

"On it Boss," a male voice replied and it was followed by Clare screaming but it was muffled after a moment.

"Hey let he-," Zane growled but was cut off. Rue's grip on my arm disappeared as she screamed. I turned my head in her direction but a hand cupped my mouth and jerked me in the opposite direction. Something hit the back of my head as someone tied my wrists together. I groaned as I was hit in the head again, gagged, and pulled to my feet.

"Get walking, all of you," a voice behind me ordered and pushed me forward. I stumbled until I was able to gain my balance and was continuously pushed forward. After being pushed for about a half a mile, I think, something hit the pressure point on my neck and knocked me out.

"Is he a wake yet, Tony," a male voice asked.

"Partly, but it will take sometime before he is in any condition to talk," another male voice replied.

"I don't think Austin will be happy to hear that. He's was supposed to talk to him an hour ago," the first voice said.

"Austin is going to have to get over it. No one can speed this healing process," Tony snapped. "Tell him to go check on one of the girls, they should be ready now, Jarred."

"Alright, but if he yells at me I'm blaming you," Jarred said as footsteps left the room.

"Hey man, can you hear me, I know you're awake," Tony said as something tapped my shoulder. "I swear I'm not going to hurt you." I stretched my figures that were just curled in a fist. "There ya' go, get your body back in control," he said encouragingly. I stretched my arms and legs before opening my eyes and looking up at the boy standing beside my bed. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat over a dark teal shirt and dark blue ripped jeans.

"Where am I," I asked, sitting up.

"Sorry but that's classified," Tony replied. "Let's start with your name."

"That's classified until you tell me where I am," I replied, stretching my back by grabbing my toes.

"You're in the Boss's base infirmary, that's literally all I know," he replied, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Kenny," I said, deciding to not tell him my whole name or who my godly parent was.

"That's all you're going to tell me," he asked. I nodded and he sighed. "Well I'm Tony Devenardo, son of Apollo."

My eyes widened, 'This guy is my half brother, shit,' I thought.

"How did you know I was a half-blood," I asked.

"I gave you nectar and you didn't burn up," he shrugged. "What can you tell me about you friends that you came in with?"

"Who," I asked, trying to act dumb.

"The two girls and the big black guy," he replied as he wrote stuff on a clipboard.

"Oh them, their just a few people I ran into while I was traveling," I lied. Suddenly there was a long blare that could only come from an intercom.

"What," Tony yelled.

"Boss wants them all in the cafeteria cage ASAP," a voice replied.

"Alright," Tony said and the intercom blared again. "Why hasn't Harleese fixed that yet," he muttered as he pulled me out of the bed.

"Who," I asked confused as he pulled me out of the room.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, pulling me down the hall. "All you need to worry about what Boss decides to do about you." he opened a door to a pitch black room and pushed me inside and locked the door behind me. A little light flickered on in the middle of the room revealing the metal walls, floor, and cyling.

"Kenny are you okay," someone asked behind me. I turned and saw Rue. I smiled when I saw Clare and Zane behind her.

"I'm fine, how about the rest of you guys," I asked.

"We're fine, except for Zane," Clare replied. "They were really rough with him because he was giving up a good fight."

"Give him more time to rest then he'll be fine," I said. "Wish I had some nectar or ambrosia though."

"I got some," Rue said, pulling a ziploc bag out her pocket and handing it to me. I pulled out an ambrosia cube and knelt down beside Zane who groaned as I did so.

"Zane, eat the ambrosia, please," Clare said softly. Zane opened his mouth so I could drop it in. He choked on it for a second but he eventually ate it. "Feeling any better," she asked after a few moments.

"Yeah," he replied, standing up. He nearly fell over but Clare and I caught him. "I'm okay," he said as Clare sat him back on the floor.

"You need to rest Zane," I said. Zane hung his head and Clare rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"I wonder why they called this the cafeteria cage," Rue said.

"Maybe it has food," Zane said. We all laughed until the wall to my right started to creek and bright light started to fill the room. I held a hand up to block some of the light until my eyes adjusted to the new light. Were the wall used to be was a bunch of bars that were close enough together that not even Rue or Clare could squeeze through them. On the other side of the bars was a large room that had rows of tables and benches. On the benches sat thousands of kids under eighteen.

"I think I know why it's called the cafeteria cage," Clare whispered.

"Shush it, Clare," Rue whisper snapped. I could tell that we were all wishing our weapons weren't confiscated. I stepped away from the bars slowly as the kids started talking to each other.

"Followers, these people are trespassers. They work for the gods, the ones that ignore and resent you," a female said from somewhere to the right of the cage. A bunch of the kids boo'd and tried to throw food at us. I dodge sausages and pieces of pancakes as Rue, Zane, and Clare dodged whatever flew past me.

"Hey," Zane yelled when a whole pancake hit his shoulder. Clare giggled slightly but put her hands up in her defense when Zane glared at her.

"I wasn't laughing," she said, turning her head so he couldn't see her face. I shook my head as the food throwing stopped.

"What should we do to them as punishment," the female said as she stepped into view. I froze when I saw her and my eyes widened. I recognized her as the Boss; her hair and cloak was the same but now I could tell what she was wearing underneath. She was wearing a black blouse that had a silver design of a moon with a black slash through it, black skinny jeans, and knee high black platform boots; all under her black cloak.

"Fight," one kid shouted.

"Training dummies," another shouted, standing up. She hade messy bronze colored hair that was braided down her back and her bangs slightly hid her scary brown eyes. She was wearing a dark teal shirt, like Tony was earlier, and baggy blue jeans.

"Yeah, I'm sure that they'll make great moving targets," the first kid agreed.

"I think the black guy will be an easy target," the girl smirked.

"Give me my remote back and we'll see who is the better target," Zane growled, gripping the bars. Clare stepped forward and grabbed his arm as the kids started to murmur to each other.

"Zane, relax," Clare whispered to Zane. He let put a long sigh and loosened his grip as he looked at Clare. Suddenly darkness fell over them like a shadow as they both cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Rue knelt beside them as I glared at the Boss.

"Leave them alone," I snapped and mentally prepared myself for whatever she was going to me.

"Leave them alone they haven't done anything wrong," a familiar voice shouted over the crowd. My eyes widened and I glanced at Rue, Clare, and Zane who were reacting the same way I was. Stepping away from the tables was Dawn her eyes fixed on the Boss and Brandon was standing right behind her.

'Here comes the drama and fighting,' I thought, as an ice started forming over the cell bars. We all stepped away as ice webbed over the bars like a spider web would. "She's improved,'' I muttered.

"They have trespassed into my territory and have already threatened us, Dawn. I have a right to hurt them," the Boss said.

"I don't care if you believe you have a right, it's not how it should be handled, Nyx," Dawn snapped.

"Wait did she say Nyx," Zane asked, quietly.

"That's what I heard," Clare whispered.

"Nyx the goddess of the night," Rue whispered.

"You all quiet now," Nyx snapped, glaring at us. "You listen hear, Dawn. This is my territory that the trespassed into so they have get the consequences."

"I'm sure they have a perfectly good reason on why they trespassed just hear them out," Dawn insisted and the crowd murmured in agreement.

"Fine," Nyx sighed. "Why are you here," she asked us. I glanced at Rue, hoping that she had already thought of a good lie. Rue shrugged and shook her head as in to say that I shouldn't say anything at all. "Answer me," Nyx ordered as darkness gather around our feet, but we all kept quiet. The darkness reached up like arms a wrapping around our necks.

"Let them go," Dawn pleaded, running up to Nyx. I gasped for air as it tightened around my neck. I reached up by instinct and tried to loosen its grip but my hands passed right through it. "Kenny," she yelled and then I felt coldness on my neck. The darkness strangling me disappeared and so did the darkness.

"Dawn, my office, now," Nyx roared before grabbing Dawn's should and pulling her away. The ice on the cell bars disappeared along with the darkness at our feet. There was a long silence until someone cleared their throat. After that everyone went back to eating and talking.

"What do you think she's trying to do," Clare asked quietly so only we could hear.

"Apparently, Nyx has something against the rest of the gods and using confused kids to help her," Rue shrugged.

"Hey guys," someone said from the cell bars. We all turned to them and noticed it was none other than Brandon McSiver, our old friend.

"Brandon, what are you doing in this place," Rue asked, going up to the bars.

"This is the only place I found that would take a creep like me," he replied.

"What about Camp Half-Blood," I asked, confused.

"They wouldn't accept me after everything I've done here," he said, shaking his head.

"Yes they would, it doesn't matter to them if you came here first or not they will take you," Rue pointed out though I don't think she completely believed what she just said.

"I doubt that anyways I like it here," he said.

"What," we all exclaimed in disbelief.

"What," Brandon asked confused.

"You're on the wrong side," Rue said.

"What's wrong with you man, here you are going against your dad, whoever he is," Zane said.

"My dad doesn't care about me, he didn't claim me we had to figure is out from my powers just like Dawn though we haven't figured who he is yet," Brandon said.

"Dawn's step dad turned out to be a monster and a couple college kids saved her and then a group of monsters attacked her, Rue, and me at the ice ring and the same college kids saved us from them," I explained. "Those college kids are from Camp Half-Blood."

"So the stupid camp sends kids out to there deaths, exactly why I'm not going," Brandon said.

"Those kids are the best Camp Half-Blood has and they risk their lives all the time," Clare put in. "I bet kids die here everyday!"

"Not everyday," Brandon muttered. "That's not the point!"

"Then what is, Brandon," Zane asked.

"All you are doing here is keeping Dawn away from being safe," I added. I was getting seriously mad now, didn't he realize the danger Dawn was in for being here?

"She is safe here, monsters won't attack unless ordered to and sense she is a daughter of the Boss and some sea god she is more powerful then the demigods," Brandon spat, glaring at me. "I am keeping her safe, do you even know what she is capable of?"

"We're well aware of her powers, we have known about them almost as long as she has," I replied.

"Then you shouldn't be worried about Dawn's safety. She is a big girl now, Kenny, she can take care of herself, she doesn't need you watching her back all the time," he snapped.

"I'm the one that stopped her stepsister from getting Dawn expelled while you did absolutely nothing about it," I pointed out. "I don't know why she still likes you; you left her AND Elizabeth behind."

"Elizabeth choose to stay with our drunk uncle, I tried to convince her that it was a bad idea but she wouldn't listen," he snapped. "And I didn't tell Dawn cause she would find a way to convince me to stay or she would come with me and I didn't want to take her away from her friends and family."

"When you left she believed you would come back after you were able to cool down from your mom's death but when the police lost your trail she completely broke down. I was the one there for her, I was the one that kept her from blaming herself, I AM THE ONE THAT HELPED HER FORGET ABOUT YOU AND MOVE ON," I yelled. Rue grabbed my arm before I could try to punch Brandon through the bars.

"I always knew you were jealous, you have been ever since Dawn started showing interest in me. But guess what, get over it she has already said that she is glad to see me and doesn't want to leave," Brandon said before walking away. I breathed heavily before turning to punch a wall. It hurt like hell but I didn't care all I cared about was getting Dawn back safely even if I had to go through Brandon to do it.

"Kenny, calm down, we can get Dawn back," Rue said softly, rubbing my shoulder.

"He is the reason she is still here, she knows that she should be at Camp Half-Blood but he is what is keeping her here," I said, trying to calm myself down.

"The prophecy said that we had to break the bond the stole had to the lost right," Clare asked.

"Dawn is the stole so Brandon must be the lost," Zane added.

"We have to brake up Dawn and Brandon," I concluded, smiling slightly.

"Zane do you still have that one thing built into your shoe," Rue asked. I forgot about that, before we left camp for the quest Zane had built a magical blow torch in his shoe incase we got caught.

"Yeah, unless they replaced my shoes with replicas," he replied, looking at the bottom of his left shoe.

"When everyone goes to bed we can use it to get out of here," Clare said, slightly jumping.

"Let's just hope we don't get guarded over night," I pointed put and they all nodded. We sat down in the back of the cage and watched the kids slowly leave the cafeteria and the cleaning monster, I think, grumble up all the trash.


	13. Chapter 13

ATCC chapter 13  
Dawn

I sat quietly on the wooden platform in the middle of the base pool. I rested my chin on my knees as I watched some Triton and Poseidon kids swim around and practice their minor water powers. I sighed and ignored the platform moving as some else climbed on beside me.

"Dawn, are you ok," someone behind her asked. I recognized the voice as Marisa Sparrow, my supposed half sister.

"I'm fine, Marisa," I lied, not looking at her.

"Are you sure 'cause you don't sound sure," she pressed, kneeling beside me.

"Well, how do you think I feel right now," I asked, finally looking at her. Marisa had long black hair pulled back into a pony tail and sea green eyes. She was wearing only a black one piece swimsuit.

"Umm, depressed," she guessed. I rested my forehead on my knees and then water washed over us. "Hailey," Marisa yelled. I looked up and willed myself dry. In the pool water in front of us was a short haired red head with green eyes and was wearing the same swimsuit as Marisa.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood," she said before diving under water with Marisa right behind her. I sighed and fell back so I was laying on my back on the platform. I watched as the lights slowly dimmed like real sunlight during the day.

Eventually I left the pool and headed back to my room for a nap before Rebecca's night long training started. In the room Rebecca was brushing her hair before braiding it.

"Hey Dawn, back already," she asked since she knew that I normally spent my whole day at the pool.

"Ya didn't really feel like practicing with water today," I replied falling onto my bed. The room was dark and shady and there ways a cloud covered moon in the middle of the carpet. My bed had a water design on the covers while Rebecca's had two crossed daggers.

"Weird, that's not like you. You're always in the mood to use your water powers," she said, looking at me confused.

"I guess I'm just getting tired of it," I shrugged, rolling over onto my stomach. The mattress rippled like water and made sloshing noises.

"How can you sleep on the mattress, I would get bed sick," Rebecca commented as she put on make up.

"I guess it's because I'm one with the water," I smirked. "Or it's just because my dad is some sea god."

"At least your humor hasn't changed much," Rebecca giggled. "Now how do we get my old cheerful sister back?"

"Let me skip night training," I said, grinning hopefully.

"Nope, sorry, you're defiantly going to need it now since you did train long today," she said, shaking her head. I groaned and put my face in my pillow. "Oh, I know, maybe we can convince mother to let us go to the city."

"She defiantly won't let us do that," I said into the pillow.

"We can at least try," she pressed.

"I don't want to go to the stinking city," I said loudly into my pillow.

"Then what do you want to do other than skipping night training," she asked. I rolled on my side a stared at her as I tried to think of something. Suddenly a bell rang two times from the intercom. "Come on you can decide at lunch," she said, pulling me off my bed and out of the room, towards the cafeteria. I made sure I grabbed my dark blue cloak that I had to wear now; according to my mom it was the only way to show I was a true daughter of the night.

I sat between Brandon and Rebecca as we talked about random things. I felt intense glares on my back so I glanced over my shoulder and stuck out my tongue at the people glaring at me.

"Will they ever stop glaring at you and accept the fact that you're better than them," Brandon said, taking a bite of his hamburger.

"I don't know," I shrugged, eating a carrot.

"Maybe you should freeze them again," Rebecca suggested.

"Only if they mess with Marisa and Hailey again," I said.

"What if they mess with me," Brandon asked, playfully.

"Uhhh, they can mess with you, I don't care," I shrugged, smiling when he pouted. "You can take care of yourself anyways."

"So," he pouted. Rebecca laughed and I did slightly.

"Followers, children, half-bloods," my mother's voice called from the front of the room. Everyone turned and silenced immediately. "We have some new recruits."

"New recruits? I haven't heard of any new recruits," Rebecca whispered, confused. I nodded in agreement and turned my attention back to the front of the room.

"What are they up to," Brandon muttered, glaring at something I couldn't see.

"What are who up to," I asked, confused.

"Welcome our new recruits," Nyx continued. "Kenny, son of Apollo; Rue, daughter of Athena; Clare, daughter of Demeter; and Zane, son of Hephaestus!" Everyone clapped half heartedly like they always do with new recruits. My eyes widened when I heard their names and then I looked at Brandon confused.

'Is he mad that their here or what,' I asked myself. Everyone started talking about them, especially Zane and Kenny, as they go back to eating before leaving to train or to do the base jobs.

"Dawn, I need to go on border patrol with Austin so I'll see you later," Brandon said before kissing my cheek and walking away.

"I think you should go back to our room to take a nap before training," Rebecca said, standing up. "I'm going to check on the new recruits."

"Alright," I said, getting up. I walked back to my room but before I could unlock the door some people came running down the hall.

"DAWN," they yelled. I turned to see who it was but they plowed into me before I could identify them.

"Holy shit," I cursed when they hit me and knocked me to the ground.

"Sorry, Dawn," a familiar voice apologized. I looked up and recognized Clare and Rue immediately.

"Oh my gods, what are doing here," I asked as Rue helped me up. Last time I saw them they were in the cafeteria cage while Nyx tried to decide what to do with them. That was also the last time I talk to my mom and lost my chore freedom.

"We were able to convince Boss to let us join along with Kenny and Zane," Rue replied.

"Didn't you hear her announcement at lunch," Clare asked.

"I heard but aren't you supposed to be at opening training," I asked as I unlocked my dorm room.

"For some reason it's not until tomorrow," Rue shrugged as I led them into my room.

"Nice dark room," Clare said, sitting on my bed. She jumped when it moved beneath her which made me laugh. "You would have a water bed."

"Yes I would," I laughed, sitting in the moon chair in the corner near my bed. "Where are Kenny and Zane?"

"I think their with Eric and Chase," Clare said. "Can I have some water? I'm thirsty."

"Sure," I replied, twirling a finger. An ice cub formed in the air in front of Clare and then filled with water and dropped into her hand.

"Cold, cold, cold," she said as she hand turned slightly red. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I giggled.

"You're really getting a hang of your powers," Rue commented.

"I train pretty much all day so yeah," I shrugged. "Which reminds me, I need to take nap before night training?"

"Night training," Clare asked, looking at me confused.

"I have a half sister that I train with and she trains better at night," I explained.

"Oh, on which side; mom and dad," Rue asked.

"Mom; I have like four half siblings on that side," I replied, holding up four fingers.

"Wait if Nyx is your mom then who is your dad," Clare asked.

"All I know is that he is some sea god," I replied, shrugging.

"You would think Boss would know," Rue thought out loud.

"If she does then she won't tell me," I said. "She wants it to be Triton, defiantly not Poseidon."

"I bet it is Poseidon but she is telling you it isn't so that you won't think it is," Clare said. I looked at her confused but didn't comment instead I just looked at Rue for a translation.

"She means that Nyx thinks he is Poseidon but she doesn't want you to know so she is lying to you. If she tells you that he isn't Poseidon then she is hoping that you believe her so you won't think that he is your dad," Rue said, trying to make it simpler than what Clare said.

"Okay, you are both confusing me," I said, putting up my hands. "You know what; I want to go see Kenny and Zane so let's go find them."

"I bet Zane is with Jaden," Clare muttered as we walked out of my room.

"Clare, he will come to his senses eventually," Rue said.

"But this is Zane, he won't come to his senses until Jaden slits his throat," Clare exclaimed, a little too loud. Some girls down the hall looked at us strangely and started whispering quietly before disappearing into a dorm room.

"Good job, what you just said is going to be all over the base in an hour," Rue said.

"I don't really care," Clare shrugged. "If Jaden or Zane come to yell at me I'll just kick their ass."

"What are you two going on about," I finally asked with my hands on my hips.

"Nothing, she is just jealous of Jaden and Zane's relationship that is starting to bloom," Rue replied, snickering.

"Shut up Rue," Clare snapped, hitting Rue's shoulder. "And I'm not jealous."

"Suuurrre," I said, sarcastically sense I knew for a fact that Clare liked Zane and got jealous every time he set his eyes on another girl.

"Oh just shut up," Clare groaned as Rue led the way down the hallway. We walked into the boys' dorm hallway and Clare grumbled about Zane the whole time. Rue stopped in front of a door that had said 'Chase Rider, son of Aphrodite; Eric Stanton, son of Hades'. I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything about Eric sense I remembered what he did at the base tournament. She knocked on the door as Clare tapped her foot impatiently and I hummed a random song in my head.

Suddenly there was a crash from in the room and a yell. I lightly pushed Rue out of the way and I placed a hand over the door's lock. I closed my eyes and imagined water and small ice crystals filling the lock and causing it to unlock. I turned the knob and walked into the room, bracing myself for a bunch of undead people but that wasn't what was going on. On the floor in front of me was Kenny and Brandon. Brandon had Kenny pinned to the floor with a hand around Kenny's throat and a knee in his stomach. Kenny had a pained look on his face as he stared at me wide eyed.

"Dawn, get your boyfriend off Kenny," Chase ordered from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall, with his hair standing up like a porcupine.

"Wait, I got him," Zane said from the open closet before tackling Brandon off Kenny. Kenny went into a fit of coughs and clutched his stomach once Brandon was off of him.

"Kenny, are you okay," Rue asked, kneeling down beside him.

"I'm fine, my stomach just hurts," he replied, groaning as he sat up. I turned my attention back to Brandon and Zane, who were rolling on the floor now. Suddenly Zane let out a yelp and jumped away from Brandon and fell on the floor with a loud thud.

"Zane," Clare exclaimed, sliding onto the floor beside him. Brandon turned to Kenny, who flinched. Brandon's eyes looked like there was lightning flashing across them, it was a look Brandon never had before. When he starting walking toward Kenny and Rue and he started raising a hand I quickly raised my hands. Ice grew around his feet and up his body until he was covered up to his shoulders in ice.

"What the he-," he said but cut himself off when he saw me. "H-hi Dawn. W-what are you doing here?"

"Wondering what you're doing," I replied with my hands on my hips as I stood between him and Kenny and Rue.

"I'm not doing anything, Babe, now can you unfreeze me," he replied, giving me his signature cute smile.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. I pulled the cloak hood over my head to hide my face as I turned away from him.

"Aww, come on, baby," he said. "I was playing around with my old friends, is that so bad?"

"It is when you hurt them and getting I look you have never had before," I snapped, quickly turning to him. The cloak started to get heavy and I could see ice forming at the edge of the cloth out of the corner of my eye as I spun and the cloak flew out all around me. "You also have never used lightning outside of the arena."

"H-hey, I wasn't using no lightning," he insisted. "Now why don't you just thaw me out and we can go back to my room and forget all about this, babe." I glared at him and didn't reply, my sense told me to leave him now but something else told me to just thaw him and do what he said. "Princess," Brandon cooed, breaking into my train of thought. I shook my head, trying to clear out all my jumbled up thoughts.

"Leave her alone, Brandon," a voice behind me said sternly. I turned slightly as Kenny stepped up beside me. My gaze softened when I felt his arm around my shoulders for support.

"No one asked for your in put, arrow head," Brandon snapped, which didn't really surprise me with what I saw a few moments ago though I was still confused with it all.

"What happened with you two? You used to be best friends," I said, confused, they used to be so close.

"Key words: used to, as in past tense," Kenny said, putting more weight on my shoulder.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," I pointed out.

"Arrow head, is trying to take you from me because he is jealous," Brandon said. "That's probably the only reason why he is here in the first place."

"Shut up Brandon, that's not true," Kenny snapped. I could tell it was at least partly true from the way he was blushing.

"Don't lie, man, it's not good for you," Brandon teased. "I'm surprised that you haven't punched me in the face yet."

"I don't stoop as low as you," Kenny snapped.

"You're right, you stoop lower," Brandon snapped back.

"¡Callate!" I yelled over their bickering. Brandon huffed and Kenny didn't make a sound.

"I'm surprised you still know what that means Brandon," Zane said, getting a small slap from Clare. Kenny and Brandon glared at each other to where you could practically see the intensity between the two. Kenny suddenly spun around and stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him. I stared at the door for a few moments as the room was completely silent. I yawned to break the silence as I stretched my arms over my head.

"Well I'm going to go take a nap before night training," I informed them as I walked over to the door. "Chase you can thaw Brandon out yourself or just push him into the hallway. Zane, Clare, Rue, let me know when Kenny has cooled down some; I want to talk to him."

"Wait, what? You're leaving me with a psycho," Brandon exclaimed.

"Hey who you callin' a psycho," Chase snapped, suddenly standing beside Brandon.

"Anyways," I said loudly. "Later guys," I said before walking out of the room. I glanced down the hallway in the opposite direction than I was going to go in hope to see Kenny but he wasn't there so I just walked back to my room and got ready for my nap.


	14. Chapter 14

ATCC chapter 14  
Eric

I walked into my dorm with Jaden and Dezz behind me and I froze when I saw my room. In the middle of the room was a mostly frozen Brandon McSiver and the rest of the room was an even worse mess than it was when I left. Chase was leaning on the wall with his hair standing on end; Dezz was instantly by his side. Clare and Rue were sitting on the foot of my bed whispering to one another until they noticed me and Jaden standing in the door way. Clare instantly started glaring at Jaden like she some Aphrodite chick going around stealing every guy Clare tried to get.

"What happened in here," Jaden finally asked, pushing past me so she was in the room.

"And where is Zane and Kenny," I added, noticing that neither boy was in the room like they were before I left.

"Don't mention those idiots," Brandon suddenly snapped.

"Will someone please push him into the hallway," Chase complained and Clare and Rue instantly got up and started pushing the ice block and Brandon out of the room. I stepped aside and watched them push him into the hall way and give him one last push to side him sliding down the hall.

"Have being a Brandoncicle," Clare called after him as he yelled curses at them. "Can't say he doesn't deserve it," she said as she walked back into the room.

"That's the truth," Rue agreed as she closed the door behind her. They both sat back down on the foot of my bed as Dezz helped Chase into his.

"Is anyone going to explain what happened in here," Jaden demanded with a huff.

"Brandon barged in angry because he believed that their just here to take Dawn from him," Chase replied.

"But aren't you," Jaden asked Clare and Rue.

"Well, duh, but he isn't supposed to know that," Clare said hastily.

"Anyways, continue," Dezz urged Chase.

"He started yelling at Kenny mostly and started attacking with lightning and shocking him so me and Zane jumped in to help but he shocked us pretty badly. He started hitting Kenny and tackled him. That was when Dawn walked in, Zane recovered faster than I could have so he tackled Brandon off of Kenny and they went rolling," Chase continued.

"Dawn burst on Brandon when he shocked Zane and went for Kenny again. They argued for a bit after Dawn froze him and eventually Kenny walked out and so did Dawn not long after without thawing Brandon," Rue added. I tilted my head slightly as I thought about how mad Brandon must have made Dawn for her to leave him like that.

"Well anyways, we still have to figure out how to get Nyx and Dawn apart," Dezz said. The room fell silent with absolutely no noise at all except for the ringing in my ears.

"There is a make up tournament coming up sense Eric ruined the last one," Jaden said, crossing her arms as she glared at me.

"I had to it had was the only way to get a hold of Camp," I shrugged. "Nyx probably won't let me participate this time so I may be able to do it with the distraction."

"We better hope so," she said, still glaring at me.

"When is the next tournament exactly," Clare asked.

"Two days, the roaster doesn't go up until the morning of the tournament," Jaden replied, holding up two fingers. "Nyx may decide to have you all participate just so she can see how good of fighters you are."

"Good luck if that happens, in Dawn's first fight she was barely able to beat Clay Storm," I said.

"Whose he," Rue asked curiously.

"He is a son of Triton and one of Brandon's friends," I replied, stuffing my hands into my jean pockets.

"This still doesn't help us in how we break Nyx and Dawn apart," Dezz said.

"I thought we were going to brake up Dawn and Brandon first," Chase asked, confused, causing some of us to groan.

"Kenny is taking care of that on his own," Clare sighed in annoyance. "You should have figured that out sense you were in here during the whole fight."

"You defiantly should have known that considering that you're a son of Aphrodite," Dezz added, slapping her hand down on his arm. He winced slightly and crossed his arms over his chest, muttering something to himself.

"I guess Chase is losing his love mojo," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up, Eric," Dezz snapped, glaring at me. I raised my arms in surrender as I took a few steps back.

"I say that we don't do anything until after the tournament," Rue said. "We need more time to make a plan and the tournament will give us an idea on what everyone is capable of."

"I agree with my sister, they need to see what everyone can do with their own eyes," Dezz agreed.

"Alright, now that that's figured out I have to go train with Stormy," Clare said as she stood up and walked toward the door.

"Rue we need to go train as well," Dezz said and with that all the girls walked out of the room. I was silent as I unwillingly started cleaning up my stuff off the floor and back into their proper spots. I threw all of the dirty cloths from the floor into the hamper before leaving the room with it. I walked down to the end of the hall and dumped all the cloths from the hamper down a laundry shoot. I returned to my room and made my bed as Chase finally got up to make his. We both stayed silent as we finished straightening up the room.

"Is Brandon still in the hall frozen," Chase asked, breaking the silence.

"Umm, I didn't look but we can check when we go to the kitchen for chore duty in about... five minutes," I replied, looking at my watch.

"Aww, one of my sisters will probably have grabbed him by now," Chase sighed as he through one of his belts onto his dresser.

"True, but so what, it's not like he is going to be going after you first," I pointed out, silently hoping that was true.

"He might decide to take his anger out on me though," he disagreed.

"Don't worry, me or Dezz will be there for yea', maybe," I said, laughing at the last word. Chase glared at me and threw his pillow at my head even though he probably knew I was going to catch it. "Hey, I was just kidding about the last part!"

"So, are you coming," he asked as he opened the door and started walking into the hallway. I followed him out of the room and locked the door behind me before we started to head to the kitchen to clean dishes. The halls were crowded like it always was at this time so we had to weave around people and we caught bits of conversations about how some kids found Brandon frozen from the neck down in the hallway by the dorms.

"Looks like Brandon is going to be getting some bad shit when Boss finds out," I said when we finally walked into the kitchen.

"Yea and he can't say he doesn't deserve it," Chase agreed. We put on our aprons and gloves before heading over to the lava filled sinks to clean the dishes. A hellhound came over and dumped a bunch of dirty dishes into the sink before walking away with a deep growl. "I don't see how you can be so calm in here with all the hellhounds," Chase said as he grabbed a cup out of the lava.

"I'm a prince of the underworld," I pointed out, taking the cup from him and wiping the lava off.

"That's true but they can still rip your head off," Chase said as he picked up a plate.

"Only if they want to go to Tartarus for eternity," I said, taking the plate.

"You know maybe I should have entered the tournament," Chase said randomly.

"Way to change the subject," I said, shaking my head.

"Well I'm serious, it would have been great practice for the final battle," he pointed out.

"Then remember that for the next one," I said, wiping off the plate.

"What if there isn't a next one," Chase protested.

"There is going to be a next one," I disagreed. "It's not going to come that quickly. Besides the tournaments are supposed to be for training."

"I'm not talking about the Boss not holding another one, I'm talking about something else," he replied, handing me another cup.

"Oh that," I said, mentally slapping myself for not realizing what he was talking about. "Well, I don't know."

"Well you should, now let's get these fucking dishes done," he said before pulling a bowl out of the lava.

"This reminds me to much of camp," I muttered as I wiped off dish after dish.

"I know, I want to see all my brothers and sisters back at camp," Chase whispered back.

"I miss helping Nico mess with Percy and Annabeth," I sighed. We both chuckled at the memories of camp as we finished the dishes. We put our stuff away before walking out of the kitchen and back toward our dorm.

"I wonder how Kenny is holding up," Chase thought out loud.

"Want to go see," I asked. "This is in your area of problems," I added, getting punched in the shoulder.

"Let's go," he said, picking up his pace as he led the way to Kenny's and Zane's room. Then we knocked but no one answered after several knocks so I tried to open the door by hand but it was locked. "Hey Kenny, its Chase and Eric, we just want to talk," Chase said, loud enough for who ever was in the dorm room to hear. The door opened slowly, revealing Zane and Kenny.

"About what," Zane asked, crossing his arms.

"Your problems," I replied, grinning. Chase punched my shoulder again before walking into the room. I followed him in and closed the door behind me. On the rug in the middle of the floor was a sun with fire around it. On one of the beds the covers had a sun pattern while the other bed had a fire pattern on the covers. "Gods, they got your room done fast," I commented as I looked around the room.

"I still want my cabin and old bedroom back," Zane shrugged, sitting on the fire patterned bed as Kenny laid down on the sun patterned bed.

"You're not the only one, it's been so long since I have seen my cabin," Chase agreed.

"Do you actually miss your girly cabin," Zane asked.

"Yes I do, and I miss messing around with my brothers," he huffed.

"I miss helping Nico mess with Annabeth and Percy," I sighed for the second time today.

"I wonder if Nico is actually taking care of your hellhound," Chase said.

"He better be or I will send him down to our dad for good when I get back," I remarked.

"Dude, Nico is so much better at fighting so you should just give up now," Chase chuckled.

"Gee, thanks for the support," I said sarcastically.

"No problem," he said, grinning and patting my shoulder. I gave him a sarcastic grin as I sat down beside Zane on his bed.

"So seriously why are you here," Kenny asked. Chase shot me a look and I knew instantly that he wanted to talk to Kenny alone.

"Hey Zane let's go train," I said. Before he could reply I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Hey, what the hell," he protested.

"Chase wants to talk to Kenny alone, besides you're already on his bad side," I replied, walking down the hallway. "You're going to need training anyways, there is a tournament coming up in two days and there is a high possibility that the Boss signed you up to see how you do under pressure."

"Great just what I need," Zane muttered, following me down the hall.

"Have you got your weapon back yet," I asked.

"I still have to get it from Austin, I wonder if I can grab Kenny's bow too," he replied.

"It will depend on his mood, but probably not with the tournament coming," I pointed out. "You might just be lucky enough to catch him right after training though."

"Pray that I'm lucky then," he said as I led him to Austin's dorm room. I knocked on the door and stepped back so Zane was in front.

"What is it, I need to go take a shower," Austin said as he opened the door.

"Can I have mine and Kenny's weapon," Zane asked. Austin just stared at him before turning and disappearing into his room. Zane gave me a confused look but I just shrugged. When Austin came back he had a switch blade and a weird small oval remote.

"Take them," he said, tossing them to Zane before slamming his door.

"Alright," Zane said as he examined the remote.

"What does that thing do anyways," I asked curiously.

"You'll find out when we're training," he replied, leading the way down the hall. We stood in the training over look hall to see where we were going to train before making our way down into an empty training field. I stood at the far end as I stretched and Zane continued examining his remote. I pulled a dark red rod out of my pocket.

"Death," I muttered and the rod grew wider in my hand a four foot long black bronze blade shot out of one end while a five inch long point came out the other. A leather grip formed around the original rod to form the grip. I stabbed the blade into the ground so I could take off my jacket to reveal my armor that I kept on underneath in case of emergency. "Ready," I called to Zane as I pulled my weapon out of the ground.

"Sure," he called back as he pressed a few buttons on his remote. It shined slightly as it changed into a three foot long bronze sword with a red grip and fire shaped piece to hold the blade and handle together.

"Nice sword," I commented, raising spear like weapon. "Let's see how well you can fight with it," I added, motioning for him to come at me. He walked forward and slowly gaining speed. When he got to me he fainted to the side several times before finally attacking me. I raised me blade to block his and shifted before using the short end to try cutting him. Suddenly his sword changed into a shield, which he used to stop my attack and shove me back. I shadow traveled behind him and kicked him in the back so he stumbled forward. Once he gained his footing he turned and his shield charged back into a sword. He swung it at me but I countered with my own attack, but he used his strength to knock my blade out of my hand. He swung his blade again but I managed to jump out of the way and grab my weapon off the ground. I gabbed my blade at his head but he ducked out of the way and held my blade down with his so he could try to knock me off my feet. I stepped back enough so he only lost my balance slightly. Zane stepped back to balance himself as our weapons clashed continuously. We did that gods know how long and we didn't stop until we decided to take a break.

"So what is Chase talking to Kenny about," Zane asked as we got some water bottles from a vending machine.

"Something to cheer him up, ummm, probably some fool proof way to get Dawn and Brandon to break up completely," I replied. "What is with him and Dawn anyways?"

"He has known her since first grade and they have been friends the whole time," he replied. "He and his mom have always been there for her when her step dad would kick her out of the house. He has had feelings for her since like seventh grade, though he has dated other girls even if they didn't last over two months."

"Geeze is he a player," I commented.

"I think all he wants right now is his girl back," he continued. "He wasn't exactly happy when Dawn started dating Brandon in the first place. Brandon knew that Kenny had feelings for her but of course he didn't give shit about that."

"Do you think it's weird that their dating even when there is the possibility that their cousins," I asked curiously.

"I don't think it really matters when Kenny will be going to any level to get her back," he replied, drinking his water.

"True but still," I said. "I hope her dad claims her when you take back to camp."

"So do I," Kenny said from behind us. We both turned to face him and Chase as they walked over.

"If he doesn't Chiron may decide that she will have to go to Mount Olympus on the winter solstice," Chase agreed. "You two get washed up for diner because you reek," he added, pinching his nose dramatically. I raised my arm and sniffed my arm pit before weakly turning my nose away from the smell.

"You're right, Chase, it's time to hit the showers," I said, as Zane forced my arm back down.

"We all don't want to smell you reek," he said before walking away. I went to my room and took a quick shower. I stepped out of my room just in time for the dinner bell to go off. I walked over to Kenny's room to see if Chase, Zane, or Kenny was there before I went to dinner alone. I knocked on the door and Kenny instantly opened it.

"Dinner time," I said with a smirk.

"Come on Zane, Chase, Eric is ready," he called into his room.

"Well I'm not," Zane said, coming into view. He had one shoe tired and one not, his hair was still messy, and he was still pulling on his shirt.

"He has a very disorganized way of getting dressed," Kenny whispered with a chuckle. "Zane, tie you shoe so we can go," he instructed. Zane huffed before sitting on his bed beside Chase so he could tie his shoe. Chase started fixing Zane's hair as he tied his shoe and fixed his shirt. Finally they both got up to signal that we could go so Kenny and I led the way to the cafeteria. Once there we grabbed our food and sat down at a table not far from where Dawn and her half sister, Rebecca, was sitting.

"Hey guys," Clare said as she sat down beside me. Jaden, Dezz, and Rue appeared and sat down, Jaden beside Zane, Dezz beside Chase (of course), and Rue beside Kenny. Clare glared at Zane and Jaden before she turned to me. "Are you guys planning on doing some exclusive training later today or tomorrow?"

"Not today sense I already trained with Zane but maybe tomorrow," I replied with my mouth full.

"Eric, how many times do I have to tell you to not talk with your mouth full," Jaden said, kicking my shine.

"Only a hundred times more, violent person," I replied with my mouth still full. She kicked me again and glared at me. I just swallowed and grinned at her as the others laughed.

"I need to talk to you after dinner," Clare whispered in my ear quiet enough so only we could hear.

"Why," I asked quietly.

"You'll find out later when we talk," she replied before going back to eating her dinner slowly. I nearly jumped out of my seat when Chase blew a cold breath down the back of my neck. Everyone cracked up laughing as I pouted and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Quiet," someone yelled from the front of the room. Everyone fell quiet as we all looked forward to see what was going on. We couldn't see past all the people but for some reason we still looked that way. "There is a tournament coming up in two days and I have decided that the four new comers will be competing whether they like it or not," the Boss announced. Everyone looked at Clare, Kenny, Rue, and Zane and whispered to one another.

"Wait for it," Jaden whispered and I knew what she meant, she was calling that the next thing Nyx would say was that I wouldn't be allowed to participate.

"And a certain son of Hades will NOT be allowed to fight in the tournament," Nyx continued.

"Called it," Jaden whispered happily, getting a high five from Zane. Clare glared at them both while growling quietly to where I could barely hear it. I gave her a confused look but she just waved her hand to show that she wasn't going to explain now.

"That is all," Nyx finished and everyone went back to talking immediately after she left the room. I threw my trash away and Clare hers away as well. She grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me into the hallway and into a janitors' closet.

"Whoa, what's going on," I asked, stepping away from her as she closed the door and turned on the light.

"Jaden isn't who she says she is," she replied.

"If your going to tell me she is a monster than it's not true because if she was she would have ate me a long time ago," I pointed out.

"She isn't a mythical monster but she is a follower," Clare snapped.

"That's her cover so yea she is going to seem like one," I said.

"Listen to me, Eric," she snapped, grabbing my shoulders. "Jaden is a true follower!"

"What are you talking about, she would never turn against the gods and camp," I snapped back.

"You aren't listening to me," she said shaking my shoulders. "Jaden is messing with your head, even Dezz and Chase."

"Prove it," I snapped.

"I see her talking to Austin all the time and she goes into his room to talk about you and us," she replied.

"Next time you see her going there let me know," I instructed.

"The last time I saw them together was when Austin was coming back from training," she said.

"She was in there when Zane was getting his weapon back," I exclaimed.

"She was probably just one of the few spies at Camp Half-Blood," she shrugged, releasing my shoulders.

"Great, now we have to be extremely cautious with what we say and do," I said, rubbing my chin as I started getting lost in my thoughts.

"Snap out of it, Eric," Clare snapped. "You should be more worried about how their planning on getting rid of us all."

"No wonder Nyx stopped all connections to the outside world unless done by her kids," I said suddenly.

"What are you talking about," she asked confused.

"You know how I said that I had to create a distraction so I get an Iris message to camp in the IM before you left on your quest," I replied.

"Oh I get it, Nyx must have done that so your group couldn't get a hold of Chiron," she said, catching on.

"We only contacted him when we needed to give him an update on what's going on, on the enemy lines," I added. "But with no way to get a hold of them-"

"She would have an advantage because she still had spies in camp," she interrupted.

"She could launch an attack when ever she wanted," I added. "We need to tell Chase, Zane, Dezz, and Kenny." I reached for the doorknob so I could go find them but Clare stepped in the way.

"We can't tell Zane," she said.

"Why not, wait, don't tell me he's a spy too," I complained.

"No but he is getting close to Jaden and if we tell him he might just go and question her about it," she explained.

"Not if we tell him that she isn't supposed to know that we know," I disagreed.

"He will do it anyways, he isn't a person that will believe anything unless he sees or hears it himself," she snapped.

"Maybe he will believe you if he heard it from you," I suggested.

"He won't, I've tried," she insisted.

"You told him before you told me," I asked.

"Well yea, he is the one that's getting close to her and I didn't won't him getting hurt," she replied, looking at the ground.

"You just want to protect him," I concluded. "Clare, Zane is a son of

Hephaestus, he can easily take care of himself."

"Not when it comes to relationships, he can't," she snapped. "He normally doesn't try to get close to anyone unless he knows that they won't turn on him but if they do he will never forgive himself."

"Are you really that jealous," I asked, stepping closer to her.

"That isn't any of your business," she snapped harshly, looking up at me, glaring. The next thing I did surprised both me and Clare, I kissed her. Me; a son of Hades, kissed her; a daughter of Demeter, how crazy is that! It gets weirder, she kissed me back! When did the world get turned upside down and when is it getting turned right side up again because it would be nice if it did before someone came in and sent me to my dad before my head was put back in order.

"Eric! Clare! Where are you," Zane yelled from outside the door. Clare jumped back and tripped over a mop. I caught a broom before it hit me in the head but I nearly knock the barf bucket on my head from the shelf above me, instead it fell on my shoulder and thankfully it was empty. Zane opened the door, probably from curiosity and froze when he saw us.

"What the hell is going on in here," he demanded, his gaze locking with Clare's.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I replied, leaning the broom against the wall.

"Try me," he said, glaring at me.

"Should you tell him or shall I," I asked Clare as she got up.

"I'll try," she replied, wiping dust off her pants. "I was explaining to Eric about the truth about Jaden."

"What are you talking about we already know the truth about her, she's a daughter of Hermes and a spy for Camp Half-Blood," he said.

"That's what she wants you to believe, come on Zane we've been over this," she snapped. She stood in front of him and on her toes so her face was actually close to his.

"I'm sorry, Clare, but that's not true," he said.

"Yes it is and I can prove it if you will just trust me," she snapped, sighing that last part. He stayed silent and just stared at her so I took the chance to leave while I could. I turned the corner and was tackled by Jaden which made me feel really awkward.

"Where have you been and where is Clare," she asked.

"Clare is with Zane, now can you get off me," I asked.

"Where is Zane," she asked fanatically as she got up. My mind froze when she asked that, I was tempted to tell the truth but I knew Clare and Zane would not be happy if I did.

"They headed down to the training area to train some before going to bed," I lied.

"I'll be at the training area if you need me," she said before running down the hall. I sighed in relief and made my way to my room to relax with a Sports Illustrated magazine and some music.


	15. Chapter 15

ATCC chapter 15  
Kenny

I skimmed through the base newspaper as Zane listened to some music. I could tell he was still thinking about the incident after dinner because of the way he was staring at the ceiling.

"Something else went on in that closet, something Clare isn't willing to tell me," he muttered suddenly.

"Maybe you should Eric, I'm sure he will tell you after some persuading," I suggest. He looked of at me before rolling onto his side.

"Maybe tomorrow," he replied. "So what are you going to do about Dawn and Brandon?" I groaned and rolled over so my back was to him as I threw the newspaper on the floor.

"I'm not completely sure yet," I replied, staring at the wall in front of me.

"You better pray to your dad that you don't have to face Brandon in the tournament," he said. "If you do you better hope he doesn't kill you."

"Knowing Brandon he would kill me if he had the chance," I agreed.

"The tournament would be a good cover up along with just saying he lost control of his powers," Zane continued.

"Tomorrow is going to be full of training so we better get to sleep," I yawned, getting up to change into my sweat pants. Zane did the same as I was in the bathroom and when we switched I crawled into bed and waited for Zane to turn off the lights. He went to bed and flipped the light switch above his bed.

"I hope Clare is wrong about Jaden," he yawned as he rolled over in his bed.

"That's the first time you ever said something like that about Clare," I pointed out.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm so confused here, maybe I shouldn't have came because now I stuck between her and Jaden."

"Maybe you should listen to Clare, I mean she is the one that you've known since eighth grade," I suggested.

"Why am I getting advise from you, you're the one that can't even get the girl that you have liked since sixth grade," he said.

"First of all, it was seventh grade," I snapped. "Second of all, right now all I want to do is get her out of this fucking enemy base."

"And beat up Brandon, you forgot that," Zane chuckled.

"Only if he tries to kill me," I replied, smirking at the thought of beating up the bastard.

"Which we both know he is going to do," Zane pointed out.

"True, now shut up and sleep," I snapped playfully before rolling over and closing my eyes. I few minutes later I was asleep, I think, I wasn't completely sure since I was suddenly sitting on the foot of my bed. I couldn't move but I could see Zane sleeping in his bed. 'What the hell,' I thought when a black mist started gathering around my feet. Suddenly a dark form was standing over me with glaring red glowing eyes. I stared at the form in shock as fear and the urge to run ran through my head even though I knew I couldn't move.

"You are a disgrace to the cause," it hissed and I then recognized the voice as Nyx. "You and your friends will pay for it." She raised her hands as the dark mist swirled up my body and started choking me. Just before I completely lost it I fell out of bed and onto the floor.

"Geeze Kenny, you are hard to wake up when you are having a night mare," Zane said from the other side of the bed.

"I don't think that was a normal nightmare," I said as I got up and sat on my bed.

"Just go back to sleep we still have a few hours until breakfast," he said, patting my shoulder before jumping back onto his bed. I laid down but didn't try to go back to sleep in case I have the dream again. I eventually sifted back into sleep and thankfully had a more pleasant dream. I found myself standing on a beach at high noon and the waves were gently washing over my feet. The sea breeze blew through my hair and smelled over fish and salt. I found it relaxing though it didn't remove Nyx's words from my head. 'You and your friends will pay for it.'

"Kenny Marthon, have you succeeded yet," a low male voice asked from farther down the beach on my left. I turned to face him and tried to keep calm as I looked at the god that told me to come and save Dawn. He had sea green eyes and black hair. He had brood shoulders and was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.

"Not yet, it's difficult when I can't get close to her without her boyfriend around," I replied, hissing out 'boyfriend'.

"You must get her out before it's too late," he said.

"I know and I'm trying," I sighed.

"Well try harder I don't want my daughter being sucked into their stupid cause if there is a way to stop it," he growled.

"If your her father than why don't you claim her and get her out yourself," I snapped back.

"She is in another gods territory and I don't want to claim her and give the other side an upper hand," he replied.

"Their going to find out eventually, it's not like she doesn't have powers that will give it away," I said.

"What do you know about the enemy," he asked, changing the subject.

"I'll answer that question when you tell me who you are," I replied. The god stayed silent for a few moments before finally replying.

"I am Poseidon, God of the sea and Earth's shaker," he replied. "Dawn is my daughter and I don't want her being used against me and the other gods!"

"Alright, alright," I said raising my hands in defense. "Nyx is her mom or at least that's what Nyx claims and she is the one running the base."

"So she has found one of them," he muttered, stroking his beard.

"What do you mean by 'found one of them'," I asked confused.

"I must go but remember you must get Dawn out of there before it's too late," he said before snapping his fingers and everything went black. When I opened my eyes again I was staring at the ceiling of my dorm room in the base.

"Kenny, get up or you'll be late to breakfast," Zane said as he walked put of the bathroom. I groaned and got up to grab my cloths to take a quick shower. When I came out I put on my shoes and grabbed my pocket knife and stuffed it into my pocket. Zane and I went down to the cafeteria when the bell rang. We grabbed our breakfast and sat down with Clare and Rue.

"Anything new," Clare asked, eating a bagel.

"I'll tell you later when there isn't so many people around," I replied, drinking my orange juice.

"Does it have something to do with your nightmare last night," Zane asked, eating his fruit loops.

"That and something else," I replied. "Hey where is Eric, Chase, Jaden, and Dezz?"

"No idea about Eric and Chase, Dezz is following Jaden since she went off with Austin again," Rue replied.

"Here," Eric said as he sat down beside Clare, who looked a bit uncomfortable now. Zane glared at him for a second before looking away and eating his breakfast.

"Sorry we're late, Eric got up late again," Chase said, glancing at Eric as he sat down beside Zane.

"Well excuse me for using shadow travel during training," he huffed, taking a big bite out of his toast.

"Then maybe you should have went to bed early instead of staying up until midnight," Chase snapped.

"I said sorry and it was only until twenty-there hundred," Eric snapped back.

"Will you two just shut up and eat already so we can go train," Clare snapped loudly. They both shut their mouths and continued eating their breakfast quickly. When we finished we headed down to one to one of the empty training areas. We trained for the rest of the day, only taking breaks for meals and to go to the bathroom. We never saw Dezz or Jaden so Clare and Rue left early to see if they were in their room or something. We eventually went back to our rooms a little before curfew and me and Zane went to bed earlier then we normally do. I didn't realized until I was almost asleep that I forgot to tell everybody about both of my dreams from the night before.

The next day we got up, ate breakfast, and checked the roaster. Lucky me, I got to face Austin right off the bat.

"That sucks," Zane said, patting my back.

"You better remember all the training that we went through yesterday," Eric added.

"And the training from Will and Annabeth in camp," Rue whispered.

"Hey guys," a familiar female voice said from behind us. We all turned to see Dawn and Rebecca walked towards us. "Checking out the roaster?"

"Yea, lucky Kenny here gets to go against Austin first," Zane said, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

"Tough luck," Dawn muttered as she looked over the roaster. I watched her eyes gaze over it as she searched for her name. I continuously asked myself subconsciously why she went for Brandon and not me.

"The key when fighting Austin is staying on defense and go light," Rebecca said as I removed Zane's arm from my shoulder. "No smart-ass comments don't attack until his flames go only half the size it normally is at the beginning."

"Before that go by luck and speed," Dawn added. "That's the only way to beat him."

"Unless you're Dawn and can just soak him so he can't use fire," Rebecca remarked.

"It didn't work that well," Dawn sighed before turning to Clare. "Looks like my mom put is against each other in the first round."

"Don't plan on winning just yet we still need to fight," Clare smirked.

"I'll try to remember to not full body freeze you when I win," Dawn joked.

"That would be nice thanks," Clare laughed.

"Looks like Dawn is starting to really get back to her old self," Rebecca said as Dawn and Clare continued talking.

"What do you mean by that," I asked curiously.

"Dawn got sort of depressed when she heard you guys were here as prisoners," she replied. "Since she heard that you joined she has been gradually getting back to normal though she still isn't like she used to be."

"Why, we're here and she can talk to us when ever she wants," I asked.

"I think it's because of that incident with Brandon and you and something else that is classified from the normal demigods and monsters," she replied before tapping Dawn's shoulder and walking away. Dawn waved good bye slightly before turning to me.

"Kenny, can I talk to you in private," she asked, tilting her head as she gave me her cute pleading smile that always worked on me. I sighed and nodded so she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the others. She pulled me down the hallway toward the dorms.

"Where are we going," I asked.

"We're going to go to an empty dorm room where no one will find us," she replied as she led me into the girls' dorm hall and down toward the end. I looked down at my hand that she was holding and nearly kicked myself. "Okay, now all I have to do is...," Dawn muttered as she put her hand over the door lock on one of the dorm rooms. The sign on the door was blank which obviously mention that the room wasn't being used at all. Dawn opened the door and pushed me inside before closing the door as she stepped in with me.

"So what did you want to talk to me about," I asked as I pushed my hands into my pockets and fingering my switch blade and examined the room. It was empty except for two beds with black sheets. The rug was black like the walls. 'So this is what the rooms look like normally,' I thought before turning my gaze back to Dawn. She was looking at the floor as she leaned on the door with her hands behind her back. When she noticed I was looking at her she turned away and pulled her cloak hood over her head. "Hey, what's wrong," I asked, stepping closer to her.

"Why do things have to change so much," she asked. "Why can't we all just be normal mortals that only have to worry about normal things?"

"Take that up with the Fates," I replied jokingly. Dawn let out a small laugh as she turned to me.

"I wish I could believe that this is all a terrible dream and I'll wake up and everything will be back to the way it's supposed to be," she said, tears rimming her eyes.

"With or with out Brandon," I asked seriously. That was the question that I really wanted to hear her answer ever since I got here.

"I don't know, part of me says that I should just breakup with him now and get it over with but the other part says to not let go," she replied, shaking her head as tears started to fall. "What should I do," she cried, bowing her head. I took her into my arms like I did when Brandon went missing and when her first boyfriend broke up with her over a text. I sat her down on a bed as she cried into my chest.

"You'll figure out something, you always do," I whispered, pulling off the hood and petting her hair. She wrapped her arms around my waist as she continued to cry with her face in my chest, soaking my shirt but that didn't really bother me.

"I missed this," she muttered when her crying finally ceased.

"What," I asked confused.

"I missed hanging out with you all and you always being there for me, knuckle head," have replied, poking my chest. "I guess I'm so used to you being around all the time I couldn't bare not having you with me," she continued, blushing as she sat up.

"Do you know what the answer is," I asked quietly. She opened her mouth but closed it again as she looked away.

"I'm not completely sure but like you said, I'll figure it out eventually," she replied after much hesitation. "And don't you dare tell me to listen to my heart because Rebecca, Clare, and Rue have already told me that."

"Okay, and I wasn't going too anyways," I chuckled.

"Good, now let's get heading to the arena for the tournament," she said before grabbing my hand again and pulling me put of the room and down the hall. When we got to the arena we found Clare, Rue, Zane, and Chase though Dawn was called away soon after by Rebecca.

"Ready to get beat up, Kenny," Chase asked.

"No, and I don't want to even be," I replied.

"So what did you and Dawn talk about," Clare asked.

"Stuff," I replied. She opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by Chase.

"Have you guys seen Jaden and Dezz at all since yesterday morning," he asked.

"Not that I can remember," Rue replied.

"They weren't in their room this morning," Clare added. We all exchanged nervous looks and I remember my nightmare from two nights ago.

"Hey guys, I think I have an idea on what happened to them," I said but before I could explain more Nyx started her announcement.

"Remember followers, there is no killing and you must continue fighting until the caller, Steven, calls the winner," she announced.

"Let's hope Austin remembers that rule," Zane whispered. I nodded in agreement and glanced behind me where Austin was glaring at me. I felt a chill go down my spine as I looked back at Nyx.

"Now go get ready and wait for you to be called into the arena for your fight," she finished before disappearing. Just when her black mist was gone everyone headed to the armory.

"Kenny wait up," Dawn called from behind me. I turned slightly as she ran over. "You have to forfeit."

"What, why," I asked confused.

"Austin is going to kill you, no joke," she replied as Rebecca jogged over.

"She isn't lying, we just over heard mom giving him the order," she insisted. "Anyways there is no way you will last long enough for Steven to call the winner."

"I have been training for this tournament since I got here, I'm just going to forfeit," I remarked.

"You need too, Austin doesn't hold back when it comes to Nyx's orders," she said, shaking her head.

"I'll be fine anyways you can jump in and help if he tries, right," I asked.

"Interrupt on tournament fight! That's suicide," Dawn exclaimed.

"Mom would kill us on the spot," Rebecca added. "Especially because she ordered Austin to kill you."

"Well I'm not going to forfeit and I defiantly don't want to get killed," I said.

"You have to forfeit," they said in unison.

"No, I'm fighting and if I die so be it," I snapped before turning and walking to the armory. "I'm doing this for you, Dawn, and I'm willing to die if it's the only way to get you out of here," I muttered as I searched for Zane and the others. I found them by the gates leading into the main part of the arena.

"What was that about," Clare asked when she spotted me.

"Nyx ordered Austin to kill me," I replied when I reached them.

"'You going to forfeit," Zane asked.

"Nope, I'm fighting even if he does kill me," I replied boldly.

"Not a good idea," Chase said, snacking his head to show his disagreement.

"Well it's the only other way to convince Dawn that she needs to leave," I shrugged.

"Why can't you just talk to her about it," he asked.

"Dawn is extremely stubborn," Clare said. "We can't even get to describe how stubborn she really is." The rest of us nodded in agreement and Chase just shook his head.

"Austin Blunk and Kenny Marthon, you're up first," someone said over the intercom. I groaned and hung my head as Clare hugged me.

"We'll never forget you, Kenny," she whispered, resting her head on my shoulder. Rue hugged me as well and rested her head on my other shoulder and Zane gave us all a big hug from behind. He gave us all a big squeeze before they all let go. "Stay alive as long as you can."

"Good luck," Zane said.

"Please come out alive for us and Dawn," Rue said before giving me one final hug before I walked over to the gates.

"Kenny wait," Dawn said from behind me. I turned just as she wrapped her arms around my neck in a hug. "Please come back," she whimpered. I wrapped my arms around her waist as I rested my cheek against hers. "Kenny, please, come back you have too," she whispered as she drew back slightly. We stared into each others eyes for a moment before the person gave out one last call for me. Dawn kissed me lightly before letting go and taking a step back. I stood there frozen as my lips from the sensation of Dawn's kiss. "Go and live, Kenny, for me." I smiled and nodded before turning and finally walking into the arena.

"You should give up now and tell us all who you really are before we get started," Austin said from several feet away.

"I have a feeling you know who I really am so what's the point of saying it," I replied as I pulled out my pocket knife. I twirled it in my hand before putting it back into my pocket.

"BEGIN," Steven called and at the same second Austin held out his hands. A medium sized fireball formed and flew at me. I easily dodged it by atrophy to the side. I took a few steps back so I was a safe distance away from him but every time I took a step back he stepped forward. He sent bunch more fireballs my way and I dodged most pretty easily while others grazed my arms and legs. I winced every time I moved and my movements slowed quickly.

'At this rate I'm not going to last for another minute,' I thought as I barely dodged another fireball. I took a chance and pulled out my pocket knife. I changed it into a bow just as a small fireball hit me full on in the leg. I cried out in pained as I fell to one knee. I managed to notch an arrow though I couldn't shoot it before I fell over to dodge a fireball aimed at my head. I took a deep breath as I shot the arrow across the ground just before I was hit in the chest by a large fireball. The last thing I heard was the crowd gasping and Dawn, Rue, Clare, Zane, and Chase yelling my name before I lost sense of everything.


	16. Chapter 16

ATCC chapter 16

Dawn

I stood by the gate that led into the main part of the arena, watching Kenny dodge fireball after fireball. I slightly gasped whenever one got him even just slightly. I prayed to the gods that he would be able to make it even though deep down I knew that he wouldn't.

"He isn't going to make it," Rue muttered from beside me. I glanced over at her and the others that had all gathered to watch the fight closely. Rue was standing with her fingers crossed and Clare and Zane were standing hand in hand, they all had worry written all over their faces.

"Don't jinx him Rue, that's my job," I pointed out, trying to lighten the mood the mood though I knew that it most likely wouldn't work. Rue just blink in response and gasped when Kenny's leg was grazed. I clasped my hands together and watch Kenny slowly dodge more of Austin's attacks.

"Dawn," a painfully familiar voice called from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder just as Brandon ran through the crowd of fighters to me. "Sorry I'm late, Tony and Clay decided to lecture me," he apologized grabbing my hand. I pulled my hand away and turned back to watching Kenny closely. "How many times do I have to say sorry," he asked, starting to get mad.

"Only a thousand more times," I replied, keeping my eyes fixed on Kenny. Suddenly he was hit in the leg by a dead on fireball and he fell to a knee. I took a step forward, away from Brandon. When Kenny fell to the ground and onto his back on and shot his first and last arrow. Austin threw a fireball that went in a curved path before exploding on Kenny's chest.

"KENNY," Clare, Rue, Zane, Chase, and I all yelled. I took another step forward before Brandon grabbed my wrist and pulled me back toward him.

"He is gone now, Dawn," he said sternly.

"Not if I can do anything about it," I growled, trying to pull out of his grip. "Now Let Me Go!" He just shook his head and tightened his grip as he just stared at me.

"Let her go, Brandon," Chase growled walking up behind him.

"Make me," Brandon said, not taking his eyes off me. Chase reached out quickly and wrapped his arm around Brandon's neck and he used his other arm to grip the arm that was holding my wrist. His grip on me loosened enough that I was able to pull away and run over to the gate. I grabbed the lock that held the gate closed during a battle. It froze once I touched it so I stepped outbid the way as Zane ran over and rammed his shoulder into the gate. The lock burst from the sudden stress and the gates flew open. Zane, Clare, Rue, and I ran through and over to where Austin was standing over Kenny's body. I raised a hand and made a fist as I pushed past the others. Water clapped around Austin with great force and caused him to fly to the side, away from Kenny.

"What the hell are you fucking doing," he roared as he got back up on his feet, dripping wet. "Mom is going to kill you all!" I just shrugged since mom was the least of my problems at the moment. He growled and pulled his sword out of the sheath that was strapped to his waist. The blade was made with dark black celestial bronze and the handle was all red though the grip was black leather. He ran at me but I easily side stepped his attack. He came at me repeatedly but I dodged most of the attacks though he did cut my arms every now and then. Suddenly Zane jumped between us and deflected Austin's current assault with his own sword.

"I'll take care of him, help Clare and Rue with Kenny," he said before jumping back away from Austin when he started twisting his blade. I nodded and ran over to Clare and Rue. I knelt beside Kenny and search for a pulse as Rue just stared at Kenny's strangely peaceful face and Clare watch Zane and Austin fight.

"He had a good shot with that bow of his, better than I have seen in years," a familiar voice said behind me. I turned to face my mother, she was wearing her full body cloak. She also had an arrow stuck in her shoulder and I recognized it as one of Kenny's. "It's a pity that he kept his faith in the gods and that stupid camp. I could have used him in the front lines of the army."

"He isn't retarded, he wouldn't join is fucking retarded force," Rue snapped.

"Silence, owl brain, before I silence you forever," Nyx snapped back.

"You mind as well, since you're going to kill us anyways," Clare pointed out sternly. Nyx smirked and black mist clouded out from under her cloak. It gathered around them and they were immediately silent. I turned quickly so I could help them but then a black mist gripped my throat, cutting me off from my air supply. I gasped and clasped my hands around my neck by instinct.

"Let them go," Chase yelled from behind me. The black mist gripping me disappeared as Chase and Nyx flew into view from the side. I took in a deep breath to recover from lack of air as I heard Clare and Rue gasping for air behind me. I turned to where Chase and Nyx went but they were both gone. I scanned the clearing and spotted Austin pinning Zane to a wall. I held out my hands toward them and the water that still soaked Austin froze, I could see the frost and hear the ice crackling from where I was. Zane kicked Austin away from him and to the ground.

"Defrost me, Dawn, you coward," Austin yelled hastily. I just rolled my eyes as Zane ran over.

"Where did Chase go, I heard him a moment ago," he asked.

"He disappeared and so did Nyx," I replied, kneeling back down beside Kenny's body.

"Bring in the other two spies," Nyx's voice yelled over the arena's speaker. "Everyone leave the arena, the tournament will continue after lunch." The people in the stands started talking quietly as they left because of the order. One of the monster gates around the clearing opened and two hellhounds walked out. Hanging from their mouths were Eric and Dezz with their arms tied to their sides by a robe. The monster used the other end of the robe to carry them with out hurting them too much.

"Put me down you stupid hellhound before I send you to Hades," Eric ordered. The hellhound that was carrying him snorted and threw him to the ground. The one threw Dezz down before they both retreated back through the gate. Rue and Clare ran over to them and untied the ropes that bound them.

"Dawn, honey, I'll give you a choice. You can either help the boar kill the spies or you can be killed along with them, take your pick," Nyx said. I glanced around at everyone as Rue whispered to her sister as Dezz started tearing up as Rue continued whispering to her.

"I'm not going to kill my friends, if I die so be it bit I'm not going down with murder and quadruple homicide over my head," I replied, shaking my head. "Why don't you just come down here and fight me yourself, that would be much more entertaining," I added.

"I have other things to do then waste my time on my hopeless daughter," she replied before disappearing out of the announcer's booth. My eyes widened when I was able to understand what she meant by 'boar'. I held put my arms out at their full extent at both of my sides before clapping my hands together with great force. Ice formed over all the walls in a slope.

"Why did you do that," Eric asked.

"To buy us time, she is going to release one of Ares' boars that wasn't recorded in any myth or legend or anything," I replied.

"Which one isn't there two of them," Clare asked.

"Let's just hope it's not the fire breathing one," I replied, kneeling down beside Kenny once again. Suddenly my back started to burn so I glanced back and saw ice melting off one of the huge monster gates behind me.

"I'm guess that's the fire breathing one," Clare stuttered. I nodded uneasily and motioned for Zane and Eric to come over.

"We need to move him to the side so he isn't eaten or trampled," I instructed. They nodded and careful picked up Kenny's body off to the side of the arena. I turned toward where the ice was melting and raised and hand and all the ice froze over again. "Everybody needs to get ready!"

"What exactly are we up against," Clare asked as she drew her sword. It had a normal celestial bronze blade but the handle was white with a green and yellow leather grip, I guessed that Zane made it for her.

"It can breathe loads of fire for two minutes straight, its gigantic, and it has really bad eyes and nose but amazing ears," I replied, raising my hand again when the ice started melting again.

"Can't you just keep doing that until we can get out of here," Zane said as he and Eric joined us again.

"Not if you want Kenny to make it out with us," I replied. "He's not dead, right, Eric?"

"He is just in a coma but if he wakes up any time soon before his burns heal he will be dead," Eric replied. I sighed in relief along with Clare and Rue, that's also when I realized Dezz was still crying.

"Why Chase, why did she have to take him," she sobbed; Rue rubbed her shoulder and whispered something to her.

"Oh come on Dezz, Chase is a big strong son of Aphrodite, most likely the strongest ever. Have faith in him, maybe we can search for him when we manage to get out of the arena," Eric said, looking over at me. I looked down at the ground because there was no way I was just going to come out and say that he most likely was already dead. I turned back to where the monster was trying to melt the ice wall and I froze it again.

"Get ready to fight," I instructed before turning and jogging over to where Zane and Eric put Kenny. I knelt down beside him as the burning in my back started up again. There was a big rush of hot air and then there was a loud snort. I glanced over at where the sound came from and froze when I saw the monster. I had heard about it from Rebecca and Jack but I have never actually got to see it until now. It looked like any boar you could find in a zoo but it was like ten times larger in size. It was a dark ashy gray with long black tusks and big red eyes. I slowly turned back to Kenny and held my hands over his worst wound, his chest wound. Water form water filled bibles on my hands and when I believed they were a good size I lowered my hands so they were just barely not touching the wound. It started healing up VERY slowly as I tried my best to concentrate on the task instead of the commotion behind me.

"Hey Flame Breath, over here," Zane called in a teasing voice.

"No over here," Clare called from the opposite side.

"Eric, hurry up we need some extra help," Dezz yelled.

"I'm working on it, just hold your horses," Eric yelled back. "Why don't you try to attack from behind?"

"What do you think we're trying to do," she snapped. "Hey, Rue try getting on its back when you find an opening."

"How am I supposed to do that," Rue protested. "Have you seen the size of that thing?"

"Just try," Dezz replied. There was a loud snort and then a big rush of cold and then warm air. I tried hard to concentrate to heal Kenny as his wound finally started closing up. Once it closed up I went to healing his other wounds. By the time I had finished healing all the wounds all the ice around the arena had been melted leaving water puddled around the wall. There was a loud splash beside me as water fell over Kenny and me. I put a hand on his chest and the water on him evaporated so he was dry before I turned to who caused the splash. Zane was sitting against the wall, shaking his hair like a dog.

"Hey Dawn," he said awkwardly. I waved slightly and raised an eyebrow as he got up and stepped over beside me. "I see you've healed all of Kenny's wounds. Do you know how to wake him?"

"I have no idea," I replied, shaking my head slightly.

"Oh I know, how about sleeping beauty," Zane exclaimed, pounding his fist in his hand.

"That only works for you and Clare, Zane," I remarked, smiling jokingly.

"That's because you and Kenny don't bother trying," he pointed out.

"This isn't a fairytale, now go fight," I said.

"I'm telling you it could work," he insisted.

"Good bye, Zane," I said over him. He pouted but turned and jogged out of sight, probably to where the others were fighting the boar. I let out a sigh and shook my head, wondering what Clare saw in him. I turned back to Kenny and began brain storming ideas on how to wake him up. 'Zane's idea is totally out of the question,' I reminded myself after the idea popped into my head several times. I sighed in defeat and went with the simplest thing I could think of.

"Kenny, can you here me," I asked. After a few moments there was no response sighed in disappointment. "Come on, Kenny, please wake up, we need you," I pleaded, grabbing his limp right hand. I leaned down so my face was close to his before I said the next thing softly, "I need you, so please, wake up." After several moments I sighed in defeat but then Kenny's hand squeezed mine. I looked down at our hands before looking back at his face just as his eyes opened slowly.

"Hey beautiful," he croaked, giving me his cute goofy grin. I just rolled my eyes even though I was extremely happy that he was awake and alive even with all he went through. "What, are you not happy that I'm alive," he asked as he propped himself up on his elbows, letting out a slight moan.

"You don't know how happy I really am," I replied, unable to hide my happiness any longer. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I hugged him, resting my chin on his shoulder. He fell back on the ground as he wrapped his arms around my waist to hug me back. Something suddenly came over me as I drew back to look at his face. He Was smiling widely causing me to blush when I realized what he was thinking about. "Way to ruin the moment," I smirked, hitting his chest lightly before getting up and holding a hand out to him. Kenny just chuckled as he took my hand so I could pull him up to his feet. Behind me there was still a loud commotion going on from the others that were fighting the boar still. I turned in that direction but before I could comprehend what was going on the air was suddenly fill with a yellow powder.

"Yea, go Rue, you defeat the beast," Zane cheered along with the others.

"Rue, you're defiantly a daughter of Athena," Dezz said as Kenny and I made our way over to them. Clare's hair was singed and so was Zane's. Zane had a torn pants leg and a burn hole in his right shoulder. Dezz's shirt and shorts was burned in random spots and there was a nasty burn on her left arm. Eric was lying on his stomach with his butt in the air and was groaning something to himself, it was something like 'fucking boar' and 'fucking Ares for making a boar like that'. Rue was walking over from where she just landed a few meters away, her hair was singed on one side and her pants was now shorts with a burned hem.

"KENNY," Clare, Rue, and Zane exclaimed when they saw us. They ran over and gave a big group hug; Clare pulled me in after a moment to make it like 'old times'.

"My ass hurts," Eric exclaimed suddenly, making us all jump slightly. We all exchanged weird looks before turning to look at hum weirdly.

"Get over it, Eric," Dezz snapped at him.

"It's not my fault that fucking boar decided to burn my ass before going to Tartarus," he complained.

"Shut up," she snapped.

"But my ass hurts," he protested.

"Don't make me come over there," Dezz warned, pointing at him daringly.

"Shutting up now," he said quickly before pressing his lips together. We laughed before being consumed in an awkward silence. I glanced around and spotted an arrow mark on the arena wall that marked the field nurse entrance that led into the infirmary storage. I waved my hand to Kenny and Rue so they would follow me as I went over to it and pressed it into the wall. It creaked slightly as it slid back and to the side, revealing the inside of the main supply room. Kenny took the lead inside and gave us instructions on what to grab and how much. We took it back out to the others and Kenny gave out the ambrosia and nectar as I started healing wounds. When I had all the wounds closed up and everyone was ready to get moving we started making a game plan. Kenny said that the best time to sneak into the infirmary was during a meal so we waited until the lunch bell rang before we snuck back into the infirmary. Dezz informed us that the base entrance and exit to the outside world was hidden in the infirmary and was heavily guarded so we decided to split up to search but agreed to make sure to return to the supply room after fifteen minutes of searching. We knew it wasn't much but it was all we had so we quickly divided up the infirmary into three. Clare, Zane, and Rue went to search around the surgical rooms and the resting rooms, Dezz and Eric went to the supply rooms and the changing rooms, and Kenny and I went down to the morgue and cremation room. As we went to search I had a feeling that one of the groups was going to run into a load of trouble.


	17. Chapter 17

ATCC chapter 17

Kenny

Dawn and I walked in silence for a while as we headed for the stairs to go down to the morgue first. When we reached the stairs Dawn stopped at the top and stared down into the darkness.

"Don't tell me you're still scared of the dark," I asked her, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder into the darkness.

"What, no. I was just letting you catch up with me, you slow poke," she replied, glancing at me.

"Then why are you still standing here," I asked with a smirk.

"Oh shut up," she replied before making her way into the darkness and down the stairs. I grinned and followed closely behind her and was about to turn on the light in the morgue when ice froze over it. I opened my mouth to ask what she was doing but a hand clamped over my mouth. "Shh, we're not alone," she whispered in my ear. I nodded and she removed her hand from my mouth. There was a low, barely audible, growl from behind her causing her to jump and clamped her hands around my arm. I felt a long, hot breath on my face and then there was another growl that was very familiar, in a good way.

'Is that Maverick,' I wondered. I recognized the growl from a hellhound at Camp Half-Blood that stayed in the arena or by the Hades cabin. There was loud bark from Maverick just before I felt a gust of suddenly wind and Dawn's hair flew up and hit my cheek. There was a big crash, followed by some growls, whimpers, barks, and squeaks. There was a sudden howl before there was a long silence. "Maverick," I dared to whispered. The kind monster barked in reply to his name being said before walking over and licking my cheek.

"What's going on," Dawn squeaked, jumping away from Maverick and I. She switched on the light revealing the hellhound sitting beside me. On the other side of the room was a large hellhound laying on the ground. Dawn raised a hand before it could get up; ice shards formed in the air and flew at it. The ice pierced the monster and turned it into a yellow powder before you could even blink.

"How did you do that," I asked, confused. "Annabeth said only celestial bronze could kill a monster."

"I don't know how it works, I just know that it does," she replied with a shrug. "Now who is that?"

"Maverick, he is one of the hellhounds that stay at Camp Half-Blood, he belongs to one of the Hades kids," I replied, patting the hound's head.

"I thought monster couldn't get into camp," she said, still confused.

"They can't unless a cabin leader gives them permission to enter," I replied. "Once they have permission to enter the camp they can come and go as they please."

"Why would you want monsters in camp?"

"Hades kids like having a hellhound of their own around and there is also the occasional friendly cyclops that comes through camp before going down to work in the forges."

"Okay then," she muttered, trailing off. I gave her a weird look but looked away when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Clare, Zane, Rue, Dezz, and Eric came into sight from the stairwell.

"We should have guessed it was in the morgue," Zane said. Maverick let out a loud bark and jumped on Eric.

"Whoa, Maverick, whoa. Down boy. Yea, I missed you too," Eric said as Maverick soaked him with slobber. Eventually Maverick got off him after several moments of watching him lick who was obviously his owner.

"Why are you guys down here," Dawn asked.

"We heard to commotion coming from down here, so we came to investigate," Dezz replied, looking at Eric disgusted.

"Hey Dezz, don't look at me like that unless you want a hug," he warned her.

"I'm good," she said, holding her hands up in defense as the rest of us laughed. "We need to find the way out soon, lunch is about over."

"Spread out," Eric suggested. We all nodded and headed in different directions. We left Eric to snoop around where there were bodies covered, waiting to be prepared for cremation. I searched along the wall farthest from where everyone else was searching except for Dawn. She was walking around behind me with water gliding across the floor.

"So if no one knows where the entrance is then does that mean everyone here year rounders," I asked her.

"Yep, once you enter you don't leave unless you die and become a spy," she replied.

"That would suck. How do you become a spy," I asked.

"Ummm, I think you have to be part of Camp Half-Blood, then you have to be here for about a school year, and have to gain Nyx trust within that time," she replied. I nodded in understanding and when I heard something on the floor above us.

"Kill the lights, someone is coming," I said. The lights went out and I heard Dawn and Clare squeak as someone grabbed my arm, I knew it was Dawn. "Relax," I whispered to her.

"I'm making sure you're relaxed," she whispered back hastily.

"Sure you are," I said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up," she said, letting go of my arm though I could still feel her close beside me. Suddenly the lights flipped on and there were loud foot steps along with Maverick growling.

"What are you all doing down here," a voice demanded from the stairwell. "Only authorized Apollo kids are allowed down here, and you all should be dead and in the arena."

"Nice to know that we're loved," Eric joked.

"Shut up Eric," Dezz hissed.

"Hey Jarred, where is the exit out of the base," Dawn asked, skipping over to him uncharacteristically.

"Oh h-hey Dawn, I didn't see you," he said, scratching the back of his head as he watched her. I glared at him slightly as I slowly followed her over to him.

"Can you please answer my question," Dawn pleaded, giving him a flirtatious smile. I exchanged confused looks with Clare and Zane before pointing the look to Dawn. "I would really like it if my friends and I didn't die here where no one would hardly miss us."

"It's back in the cremation chamber," Jarred said.

"Why is it in there," Clare asked confused.

"It's so no one can find it unless you can resist fire sense it is always on," Dezz replied. "The only times it's off is when someone is being brought in."

"Then how do you do patrol duty if you aren't allowed to know where the exit is?"

"There is a room on the other side of the base that Nyx powers to puff people out and then in. This exit and entrance is only used when Nyx can't bring you in herself."

"If you are going to escape do it soon because Austin and Jack are supposed to be checking the arena and bring down the bodies that the boar didn't devour down to me in a few minutes," Jarred said, impatiently.

"Alright, Jarred can you turn off the chamber for us please," Dawn asked.

"No can do," he replied, shaking his head.

"Why not, you don't want us to die do you," Dawn pleaded.

"Of course I don't want you to die but the chamber takes to long to power down and then power back up. Austin and Jack will be down here before it's done and then my cremated ashes will be all over the floor."

"Looks like we're going the hard way," Dawn said, clapping her hands together as she turned to the rest of us.

"As long as it doesn't have the risk of us being cremated before we actually die," Zane said.

"Zane don't tell me you actually think there is a way to get out of here with that risk do you," Clare asked with her hands on her hips.

"Of course not, I was just hoping that she would know one that we had no clue about," he shrugged. Clare rolled her eyes and motioned for Dawn to continue.

"First I need Jarred to promise us something," she said, turning back to the cremator.

"Anything other than throwing myself in the chamber," he replied.

"You won't tell anyone that you talked to us and that you ever saw us here," she said, holding out her pinky. "Promise?"

"Promise," he agreed, curling his pinky around her's. I get a pang of jealousy when they did the pinky swear but I shrugged it off as I thought about all the times Dawn and I pinky swore even when we were in fifth grade.

"Kenny, wake up, this is no time for day dreaming," Dawn said as she snapped her fingers under my nose.

"Sorry," I apologized, shaking the thoughts aside. She just gave a long hard look like she was trying to read my past thoughts but I gave her my 'I'm fine' look so she turned back to the others before leading the way across the room to the cremation chamber.

"Okay, when we are going through this you will have to walk fast and keep up with me if you want to live," she said as she opened the chamber door that was big enough for a few hellhounds. She put her hands up and water bubbles formed over all of us. She motioned us to follow her as she quickly walked into the fire chamber. Just before the rest of us could follow her, the door slammed shut suddenly, nearly taking off my foot.

"Thanks for informing us, Jarred, that was very kind of you," a voice said from behind us that I instantly recognized. "Hey Kenny, shouldn't you be dead along with everyone else. I mean really, the one that had a chance of killing that thing was Dawn and only if the rest of you died first."

"I was never dead and Dawn wouldn't let us die unless she died first," I snapped back as I turned to glare at him.

"Sure, that's what you think. She is the one that let you fight me even though she knew I was going to kill you," Austin snapped back, fire glowing in his hand. "She didn't stop you from stepping into the arena and she didn't even try to stop me when I threw my last fireball."

"Maybe that's because she actually has faith in me unlike you," I growled, trying to keep my mind off the possibility that he was right.

"Do you want to be cremated before or after you're dead," he growled, glaring at me as he held his hands out at his sides with red fireballs forming in them. I didn't reply and suddenly the door to the cremation chamber flew open, making a loud metal 'clunk'. Clare squeaked and jumped slightly in front of me.

"What the hell Dawn," Zane snapped, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Sorry, the door doesn't have a door knob on the inside," she joked as she walked up beside me. "Hey Austin, don't you have patrol duty right now? Remember what happened last time you skipped."

"It shouldn't be me you're worried about, wave face," he said, strangely calm. "You should be worried about your pal not your almighty half-brother."

"Since when were you almighty? I mean seriously to get that title you have to at least a god or two first," Dawn said with a half-smirk.

"I practically have sense I can be you, Rebecca, Jack, and Knight," he pointed out. I rolled my eyes without actually meaning too, well maybe I did mean too. Austin threw a fireball at my feet causing me to jump back in surprise and nearly trip over Rue.

"Hey, nastiness won't get us anywhere," Dawn snapped at him.

"That's the point sis, that's why we are down here," Jack said as he walked out from behind Austin.

"Aww you brought back up, that's so cute," Dawn teased. "See I knew you didn't believe you could stop us on your own." If I have to name one thing about Dawn that she is really good at it has to be annoying the crap out of people, it never fails when she tries to annoy someone.

"Shut up Wave Face, mom made me bring him along," Austin snapped.

"Sure she did, whatever you say," Dawn said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. We all let out a snicker but silenced ourselves when Austin threw another fireball, at my head this time. I ducked down as it flew over my head and into the chamber. There was a flare and fire flicked out against my arm and Zane's butt.

"Shit, hot hot hot," Zane exclaimed as he jumped like ten feet into the air. I gasped and stepped back as the fire flicked out farther, threatening to scorch my legs.

"Was that really necessary," Dawn demanded, walking over to me. Suddenly fire formed and wall between us and around the others, separating me, Austin, and Jack from them.

"Yes it was," Jack chuckled as he lowered his hands.

"Let us go Jack before you become an ice crystal," Dawn snapped.

"You can't use your powers on me when there is fire between us," he pointed out.

"Question: why did you separate me from them," I asked curiously.

"I'm killing you separately sense you were supposed to be already," Austin replied. I exchanged panicked looks with the others and noticed the ultimate terror in Dawn's eyes and expression. I flashed back to the arena when I was dodging Austin's attacks the first time. The difference between then and now is that I had less room to move in, more obstacles to watch for, and I have less energy now. Then I remembered Maverick. I glanced around frantically hoping to find the hellhound sneaking up behind Austin and Jack. When I didn't spot him I hoped that he was just hiding in the shadows and waiting for the perfect time to strike.

I ducked behind some metal over turned tables to by myself some time and for a short rest. I sighed in relaxation as I took a breather. I heard Maverick's soft whine from somewhere in the shadows in front of me. "Maverick, you okay boy," I whispered. I got a soft snort in response so I took that as a yes. "Maverick, can you get me help," I asked, I knew that Maverick loved to shadow travel so I was sure he wouldn't object. The hellhound disappeared leaving me alone, staring at the shadows and hoping Maverick would return with help quickly.


	18. Chapter 18

ATCC chapter 7

Brandon

I woke up to my room mate, Tony Devenardo, son of Apollo, shaking and yelling at me. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes, he was only wearing red plaid boxers. "Come on, Brandon, wake up," he yelled in my ear. I pushed him to the ground and sat up in my bed.

"What is it Tony," I growled, I never liked it when he cut in to his sleep.

"There's a new girl, she's in the infirmary, room 32D," he replied. When he said there was a new girl I jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed and Tony followed my lead.

"Clay said that the Boss brought her in herself," Tony said as we walked through the halls on our way to the infirmary.

"She must be pretty important is she did that. Got a name," I asked. We passed a crowd of Aphrodite chicks and they all giggled and waved.

"Hi Brandon, Hi, Tony," they said in unison.

"Hello, ladies," Tony said, winking at them. They giggled as I waved and they started talking among themselves.

"Dude, we totally got those girls in the bag," Tony said when they were out of ear shot.

"Then why don't you ask one of them out," I asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"Anyways, do you know the name of the new girl," I asked as we pushed through some double doors.  
"Nope, I just know what I told you," he replied as we walked do a hall that had glass windows as the walls. The windows over looked the infirmary rooms, which were set up like mortal hospital room. We walked down to the end to the hall where people were crowding around the right window, mostly boys.

"Tony, Brandon, over here," someone called from the front of the crowd. We shoved our way to the front of the crowd to them, ignoring the swears and curses front the people they shoved. "You made it just in time, they are getting ready to wake her up," the boy beside me said. He had long black hair that went to his shoulders that was pulled back into a low pony tail; he also had dark blue eyes and was wearing a plain blue tank, black gym shorts, and navy blue sneakers.

"Great, we made it for the main event," Tony said, cheerfully. The boy and I laughed at his enthusiasm. I gazed down into the room at the sleeping form lying in the infirmary bed; all I could see of the new girl was that she had short brown hair.

"Hey, Clay, do you know who she is or where she came from," I asked the boy beside me.

"Nope. Oh look, here comes the Boss," he said point to the entrance of the infirmary room. Entering the room was a tall woman that looked to be in her mid thirties, she had black eyes, pure black wavy hair, and dark, tanned skin. She was wearing a black cloak over a navy blue long sleeve shirt, black jeans, and black platform chain boots. I've only seen the Boss during tournaments that she over looked, I've never actually talked to her, only her kids got to or if you worked in the infirmary. Then it occurred to me, if she was over seeing the new girl then she must be one of the Boss's kids. Then there was the fact that the Boss didn't have any demigod children, only kids with other gods so the new girl had two godly parents. That brought up the main question, who was her dad?

"Does anyone no who her dad is," I asked.

"No, the only information given out was that it's a girl and Boss brought her in," Clay replied. I slightly curse in ancient Greek and watch Boss talk to a child of Apollo. "Shouldn't you be down there, Tony?"

"My shift hasn't started yet and Boss doesn't like people going to their shift early," Tony replied, leaning a shoulder on the glass.

"Darn, when you go in can you collect information on her," I asked with a grin.

"Sure thing, dude. Thinking about trying to catch her," he asked.

"Maybe, depends on if I can even get a chance to talk to her," I replied.

"Hey, hey guys, she's waking up," Clay said, slapping my shoulder. I whacked his hand away from my shoulder and gazed down into the room. Sure enough the girl in the bed as shifting around and was sitting up slowly up revealing her face and what shirt she was wearing. She had short brown and startling bright brown eyes that were foggy from sleep; she was wearing a dark blue shirt with sleeves that went half way down to her elbow. My eyes widened, it took me a moment to recognize her but when I did I was in total shook. It was Dawn Ocean, my girlfriend, probably ex-girlfriend now, from before I ran away from home when my mom was killed and the government tried to force me to live with my drunken uncle. I tried to take my little sister, Elizabeth, with me but she refused to leave since she didn't understand the whole drunk uncle concept yet. Not long after I ran away did I find this place in the middle of no where somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky and I've been here ever since.

"Hey, Brandon, are you okay," Tony asked, looking at me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired I guess," I lied, wondering why Dawn was here.

"Ok. Hey, I gotta' go my shift is about to start," he said before shoving his way out of the crowd and ran down the hall and disappeared.

"He better get us some information," Clay muttered. I nodded in agreement and watched as the infirmary workers talked to Dawn till Boss yelled at them to do something they all left leaving Dawn and Boss alone. Clay disappeared into the crowd when Boss looked at the window and gave a signal. There was a loud squeak and blare from an intercom and then Clay reappeared with his hands over his ears.

"Ok, one of the Hephaestus kids really needs to fix that," I said.

"Yeah, no kidding," he agreed, removing his hands from his ears.

"Followers, listen up," the Boss's voice said over the intercom. We all quieted down and looked down into the room at the Boss. "Welcome our new recruit, Dawn Ocean, daughter of Nyx and Poseidon." A lot of people gasped and whispered amongst each other while others disappeared. I gaped, wide eyed as the Boss helped Dawn out of the infirmary room and put of sight.  
"Dude, turn off the intercom," I ordered a frozen Clay. He nodded and ran off to a nearby control panel. I sighed and rested my forehead against the glass window. Life here was about to get extremely difficult, I thought as me and Clay headed off to our sword fighting class.

It's been a few days since Dawn arrived and she was all that anyone could talk about. I haven't seen her since she arrived but I knew where she was every second of everyday because of everyone kept tabs on her twenty-four seven.

"Brandon, the tournament brackets are up," Tony said, bursting into our room with Clay right behind him. "Dawn entered too," he added. I followed them to the cafeteria where the bulletin board was located. I skimmed over the names until I found my name.

"Great, I'm facing Alexandra first," I groaned.

"Sucks to be you," Clay said, patting my shoulder.

"Who you going against," I asked him.

"Dawn Ocean, lucky me," he replied, grinning widely.

"Dude, she's going to make you a permanent icicle," Tony said.

"We'll see about that, besides you're the one that flirts with her every second you see her," Clay pointed out.

"What do you expect, she's hot," Tony said, defending himself.

"Very true, but I'm the one that called dibs," Clay pointed out.

"Since when? I don't recall hearing anyone call dibs, we never call dibs," I retorted. We all laughed and looked at the roaster. "Tony, did you sign up?"

"Yes, but I can't fight, I'm working as the field doctor the whole time," he replied sadly. Clay and I laughed, pointing at him.

"You're going to be our field nurse," Clay laughed, making me laugh harder.

"I don't care, as long as I don't have to wear the outfit," Tony shrugged.

"All tournament participations please report to the arena for a briefing," a voice said over the intercom.

"Well, that's our cue, see ya later, field nurse," Clay said as we walked away leaving Tony alone in the cafeteria.

Clay and I just stood in the arena talking to a few friends about the tournament and what we would do all day on the free day we could win. Clay boasted about how he was facing Dawn first and how he planned on showing off his new moves he had learned since the last tournament.

"Why don't you go talk to your first opponent, Clay," our friend, Collin Remorse, son of Hades said.

"What, not unless I can take someone else with me for back up," Clay replied, slightly blushing.

"Take, Brandon, he's great back up," Collin suggested, waving a hand toward me.

"What," I exclaimed. I didn't want this to be the way Dawn would find out I was here but before I could protest any further Clay was already dragging me through the arena to where Dawn was currently laying on the ground staring at the lights hanging from the cyling.

"Hi Dawn," Clay said, cheerfully as we approached.

"What do you want now, Clay," she groaned, not looking at us.

"Why do you think it is Clay," he asked in a lower tone.

"Because I'm not stupid on like some people," she replied. 'Same old Dawn,' I thought, laughing at Clay's sad expression.

"Shut up, Brandon, no one asked for your stupid opinion," Clay snapped.

"You practically did when you dragged me over here," I pointed out, instantly wishing I didn't talk at all. Dawn sat up quickly and looked at me wide eyed. "Why are you looking at me like that," I asked, deciding to mess with her a bit.

"B-Brandon," she stuttered. I nodded and she jumped to her feet and wrapped me in a bear hug.

"Nice to see you too, Princess," I said, using the nickname I gave her when we started dating, as I hugged her back.

"You have a lot of explaining to do mister," Dawn growled, playfully, as she pulled away and poked my chest.

"You bet he does," Clay butted in, crossing his arms over his chest. I opened my mouth to start explaining when a voice yelled for everyone to be quiet. We all turned to the front of the arena where the Boss stood.

"Alright you all know the rule, no killing you opponent," she said.

"Darn it," Dawn muttered. I chuckled as Clay glared at me and Dawn whacked his shoulder.

"Now go retrieve you weapons and armor and wait to be called out for your fight," she said and everyone headed for the armory to get their armor and weapons. I grabbed my armor and quickly put it on and pulled Dawn with hers.

"So what weapon are you using," Dawn asked.

"This," I replied, pulling out a round disc from my pocket.

"What is it," she asked, confused.

"You, missy, will just have to wait till my fight," I replied, poking her nose. She giggled before running a hand through her hair. "So what weapon are you using?"

"You're just going to have to wait and see," she replied, smiling.

"Aww," I whined, pouting. She just rolled her eyes and straightened her armor.

"Hey, guys," Clay said walking over.

"Oh great," Dawn muttered, her lips forming a frown.

"Hi Clay," I said, slightly waving to him.

"Ready for our fight, Dawn," he asked, grinning.

"Yeah, as long as your ready to lose," she replied, sticking out her tongue and I chuckled.

"I'm not going to lose; me and Brandon are going to have a face off in the finals. Right, man," he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"That's if Dawn doesn't beat your ass first," I replied, laughing. Clay punched my shoulder and Dawn laughed uncontrollably. "Dawn, Breath," I exclaimed, hitting her back when she started coughing.

"Ok, ok, I'm fine just stop hitting me," she snapped, punching my shoulder. Ice started to form where she hit me and I slightly gasped at the sudden cold. "Sorry," she apologized, touching the ice so it would disappear.

"That's what I call a cold shoulder," Clay laughed. Dawn glared at him and ice suddenly covered his shoulder. He squealed and tried to brush it off. We cracked up laughing till we couldn't laugh anymore. Dawn leaned against my side as she caught her breath and relaxed.

"Ok, Brandon McSiver and Alexandra Sprear, you fight is next," someone on the intercom said.

"Great, now Brandon gets to get beat up," Clay clapped. I glared at him and Dawn looked at us confused.

"She's a daughter of Ares along with one of the best fighting demigods here," I explain.

"Oh, I get it," she nodded.

"Come on, Zappy, let's get this over with," a voice behind me growled and then someone grabbed the back of my armor and dragged me toward the arena.

"Good Luck," Dawn called. I gave her a thumbs up before I entered the arena.

"Next up is Brandon McSiver verses Alexandra Sprear," the announcer announced. The crowd cheered most for Alexandra, of course, she was a big hit with anyone she deemed worthy enough for her to not beat up, which was surprisingly was a lot of people. My friends that sat in front cheer loudly for me though they got glares from Alexandra and her crew.

"Get ready to lose, Zappy, you don't stand a chance," said the girl a few feet away from me. Her messy bronze colored hair was braided down her back and her bangs slightly hid her scary brown eyes. She was dressed in full bronze battle armor and had a long, sharp, double bladed celestial bronze sword in her hand.

I flipped my bronze disc into the air and when I caught it was a five feet long celestial bronze spear. The ends were sharpened to a very fine point and the middle was wrapped in a leather grip.

"The fight will begin; NOW," the announcer shouted and Alexander pounced. I knocked her aside with my spear sending her rolling on the ground.

"That all you got," I taunted. My plan was to stay on defense and just tire her out so I would get an easy win; the bad part of the plan was that she had a chance to give me multiple wounds. She growled and jumped at me again, this time fastest so when I dived out the way she was able to grab my feet. She stabbed the ground by my feet with her sword before standing up while still gripping my ankles. She spun me around and threw me into a wall. I looked around dazed and shook my head like I was a wet dog. I looked over at were Alexandra was standing when she threw me but she was out of sight. I got up and was about to head over to where my spear was but I was knocked over from behind and my arm was cut deeply. I groaned and spun around to face the attacker. Alexandra smirked before hitting me in the forehead with the butt of her sword. I stumbled backward, dazed, and fell on the ground beside my spear. She was about to stab down into my chest but I quickly rolled away with my spear. I sprung to my feet and blocked her sword when she tried to attack me again.

We went like that for what felt like hours but it was only seconds. She fainted to the left and attacked to the right, knocking me to the ground again by slashing my leg. She cut my side and cheek until I had enough of that. Grabbed her wrist and sent a bolt of electricity up her arm. Her eyes widened and loss hairs stood up on end. I smirked, letting go of her wrist, as soon as I did she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"This fight is over, Brandon McSiver will be moving on to the next round," the announcer announced and Tony ran over to Alexandra. He gave me a thumbs up before carrying her out of the arena. The crowd cheered and clapped and even did a bad wave which made my chuckle. I walked back to where I entered.

"You okay," Dawn asked when she saw me. I nodded as a medic took care of my wounds.

"You and Clay will be up soon, you ready," I asked, wincing as the medic washed my leg wound.

"Yeah, I think," she replied, quietly.

"Hey, relax, he isn't going to kill you, trust me," I said, resting a hand on her shoulder as she sat down on a bench beside me.

"I know, but I'm not completely sure that I should even be in this tournament," she said.

"What do you mean? You're the one that signed up," I said, confused.

"Nyx signed me up, I didn't want to be in this at all," she replied, sadly. "I've only been here a few days and barely started training."

"You'll be fine and I'm sure Clay will go easy on you since it's your first time," I pointed out. She smiled, half heartedly, and let out a sigh.

"Clay Storm and Dawn Ocean, you're up next," someone said over the intercom.

"Great, my turn to get beat up," she muttered, standing up and groaning.

"You'll do fine, just relax," I told her, standing beside her. "Good luck," I whispered in her ear before I kissed her cheek. She blushed brightly and waved before walking out into the arena with Clay.


	19. Chapter 19

ATCC chapter 19

Clare

"Why don't you go across the room and we'll fight," Leo suggested. "It'll be entertaining, two demigods verses one goddess of the night." I sent Leo a confused looked but he didn't meet my gaze so I glanced up at Zane. I noticed that he had something in his hand that looked like his remote. His gaze was switching between Nyx, Leo, and I, his gaze lingering on me the longest.

"Why not, it'll make destroying you more painful," Nyx said before disappearing.

"We just need to distract her long enough for someone to come up with a plan," Leo whispered. I glanced across the room as a black mist condensed near the cremation chamber.

"Easier said than done," I whispered back. He slightly groaned in agreement as we got ready for whatever the night goddess decided to throw at us.

"Pst, Clare," someone whispered from above me.

"What," I whispered back tilting my head. Above me Zane was smashed against the ceiling like all the others.

"Red button," he said simple as something dropped out of his hand. I caught it and it took me a moment to realize it was his remote. All the buttons were a different color so it wasn't hard to figure out which button he was talking. "It's not going to blow up," Zane added with a chuckle. I couldn't help but smile at his gesture in attempt to make me feel better.

"Heads up," Leo warned. I looked around when something suddenly gripped my left arm and pulled me forward. I squeaked and I was pulled forward so fast my feet flew off the ground.

"The red button Clare," Zane yelled. I did as told though it was hard to do flying the air. The remote suddenly shifted into a sword that was balance perfectly in my hand. I swung the sword and sliced into whatever had a hold of my arm. The sword's blade lit like a flame when it made contact but it went back to normal after it was completely through. There was a gasp in front of me as I fell to the ground. I moaned as my face hit the hard ground, thankfully not hard enough to make my nose bleed. Then I heard foot steps coming from behind me and suddenly I felt a presence above me. I looked up as Leo started throwing flames at Nyx, who was only a few yards away from us. I decided to take the time to try to grow ivy around her legs, which actually worked, much to like everyone's surprise. Nyx tired to dodge the fire but that was hard to with ivy around her legs. She growled something before disappearing in a black mist.

"Where did she go now," Leo thought out loud. I glanced around but spotted no sign of Nyx. "Maybe she finally came to her senses and retreated," he suggested after a few minutes of silence.

"Some how I seriously doubt that right now," I said negatively. "Besides if she retreated wouldn't they have fallen," I continued, looking up at the others on the ceiling.

"Good point, so where is she hiding," he wondered, scratching his chin. I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by something stabbing me in my lower back, to the left of my spine. I cried out in pain and fell to my knees in agony. I clenched my teeth as pain shot through me and I let out a groan.

"Clare," a few people yelled as others gasped. I gasped like a fish out of water, every breath harder than the last. Leo suddenly went flying from my side and into the metal wall of the creation chamber. With the way her crumbled to the floor in didn't seem like he was going to get back up anytime soon. Heels clicked on the floor as a shadow made its way around me as I wrapped my arms around my stomach, my fingers of my right hand quickly getting coated in blood, my blood. I felt like I was going to puck but I really was worried about that much. The sword, now a remote again, was gripped in my left hand. I squeezed my eyes shut as a pain of pain washed over me and I felt more warm blood coat my right hand.

"Well this battle is over," Nyx laughed as she stood over me. I opened my eyes and looked up at her weakly. I let out a few coughs and my mouth tasted of blood afterwards. I kept my right arm around me as I pulled my left arm back in front of me. My eye sight was blurry and was edged in black but I was still able to see the mix of colors on the remote. My thumb ran weakly over the buttons until it found the red one. I looked up a Nyx, finding enough strength to put on a smirk as I stood up wearily. "Don't even try honey," Nyx said as I realized she had her back to me. I felt blood drip on my chin and I began to feel cold as I tried to couture up the last of my strength.

'Better move this move count,' I thought as I tried to focus my eyes. I raised my left hand as I pressed the red button. The sword grew in my hand and I used the last of my strength to slash at a dark form, like rope, to Nyx's side. There was few screams and yells as something crashed into me. The last thing I remember was my back hitting a wall very sharply before completely blacking out as I started to feel really cold.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
Will

Once I hit the ground I quickly jumped up. I ran over to where Clare was crumbling onto the floor. I could hear a ruckus going on behind me but my priority right now was to make sure Clare was even alive. I gently pressed two fingers to an artery in her neck to check for a pulse. There was one but it was dangerously slow and weak. Next I rolled her over onto her stomach so I could see her back wound. I heard two sets of foot steps coming my way so I looked up to make sure it was any trouble. Dawn slid on her knees on my right as Kenny knelt on my left.

"Shouldn't you be helping the others," I asked as I pulled bags of ambrosia blocks and ambrosia pudding out on my pockets.

"The quest prophecy said 'fire and flower' would defeat Nyx so we're leaving it to Zane and Katie," Kenny replied before getting up again. He returned quickly with gauzes and bandages. He handed some to me and one to Dawn so she could wipe off Clare's chin. I used mine to clean up the wound so I could get a better look at it before I did anything else but the wound kept bleeding like a leaking pipe.

"Here, let me try," Dawn said, pushing my hands away from the wound. I opened my mouth to protest but I silenced myself because of the look she was giving me. I retracted and Kenny got up so I could have room to move. Dawn held her hands over the gravely bleeding wound with complete focus written on her face. Water started to form and bubble around her hands and into the wound. Blood quickly filled the water around her hands but that didn't seem to faze her much.

After a few minutes she retracted her hands, the water evaporating and leaving the blood on her hands. Kenny handed her some bandages to wipe her hands with as I inspected to wound, it was cleaning now and the bleeding had stopped for the moment. Now I could tell that the wound was very deep, probably piercing though one of her kidneys and a few other organs. I cursed under my breath as I opened a bag of ambrosia pudding. I scooped out some with two fingers and carefully smeared it on to the wound. I then closed my eyes and spoke a silent prayer to my father and I used a little healing magic. I then let out a long sigh as I felt suddenly tired and weak but I didn't let that stop me from bandaging up the wound for now and hope my father heard me.

"That is the best I can do until we get her back to camp," I sighed.

"If we can get back," Kenny mumbled. "I'm going to see if Eric or Nico can call some of his hellhounds here to get us out of here," he said louder as be got up and walked away over to where the others were leaning on the wall. My eyes moved over to where Zane and Katie were slashing, dodging, jumping, and rolling as they fought the goddess of night. I shook my hand as I saw the fiery look in Zane's eyes.

"Either Zane is going to get himself and Katie killed or he is going to seriously heat Nyx," Dawn commented.

"I hope it's the second," I agreed.

"Me too, for Clare's sake," she said, though it was more of a whisper. I glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Long story," she answered my unvoiced question. I nodded in understanding and turned back to the fight. Zane had a long cut on his jaw and Katie had a deep slash down her right arm and leg. Nyx had a black mist around Katie's ankles and Katie had vines around Nyx's legs. Zane was currently trying to land a blow on Nyx though it didn't seem to be working very well sense she had a longer sword than he did. His feet shifted with every move they made, slowly rounding her so he was behind her where she was defenseless. I had a real urge to jump in, so did probably everyone else, but I stayed where I was. Don't want to get everyone killed after all.

Suddenly there was a moan so I looked down at Clare. She was flexing her fingers and her nose was crunched. She moaned again as she opened her eyes.

"What happened," she asked in a very weak voice.

"You were knocked out and have a very deep back wound," I replied.

"Pierced a kidney and liver, and nicked the stomach," Dawn added, sounding like a computer by dividing all the words. I looked at her confused, how would she know that anyways. She just shrugged and waved a hand like she was brushing away the matter for the moment.

"That sounds bad, how am I alive," Clare asked.

"You would have bleed out internally and externally but I stopped the internal bleed, which means I fixed up your organs so now you just have a deep flesh wound," Dawn replied.

"Try not to move around much," I warned when she started to try to get up. "You don't want to get the round bleeding again, you have already lost enough blood as it is." I handed Dawn a few blocks of ambrosia to give Clare.

"Dawn how's Zane," Clare asked her best friend before Dawn gave her a block of ambrosia.

"He's fine right now," she replied. "He's fighting Nyx with Katie's help."

"The prophecy huh," Clare said.

"Well duh," Dawn replied teasingly. Then Rue and Kenny joined us.

"How do you feel Clare," Rue asked.

"Sore, but I guess you already guessed that," Clare joked as I got up to give the friends some space. I walked over to where Eric, Dezz, and Annabeth were. Percy was on his way over with an unconscious Leo on his back.

"So what's the prognosis Doc," Eric asked with a smirk.

"Dawn closed up the damaged organs so there is no more internal bleeding and it's just a deep flesh wound. She lost a lot of blood so we better hope that she doesn't bleed any more go we most likely lose her. We need to get her to camp soon," I replied.

"Maverick and Mrs. O'Leary should be here soon, Nico went to get them," Dezz said.

"The cyclopes should be here soon as well as long as they weren't all killed by the followers," Annabeth added. There was a crash across the room so we all turned to see Zane leaning against a broken table and Katie lying on her back, her chest heaving. There was a black mist around them but it disappeared with a few words.

"You win this round but next time you won't be so lucky," Nyx said before the black mist completely vanished. We ran over to them then to make sure they were alright.

"Is she gone," Zane asked opening one of his eyes.

"Yeah she's gone," Kenny said as he walked over.

"Yes, I thought she would never leave," Zane cheered as he sat up and stretched his arms out.

"How do you two feel," I asked both Zane and Katie.

"Drained and sore," Katie replied as I knelt down beside her to give her some ambrosia.

"In need of a long nap once we get back and I get to see flower," Zane replied as he stood up. Just then Nico returned with two different hellhounds.

"Maverick and Mrs. O'Leary were sleeping so I grabbed Nightmare and Luna instead," he said as he walked over to us. "So are we going now?"

"Yeah let's get out of here," Dawn said as Rue and her walked over. Clare was hanging on Dawn's back with her arms around her neck loosely and Dawn gripping under her knees. We all nodded in agreement and got ourselves on the hellhounds backs. Nico told the friendly monsters to take us back to camp. Eric and Nico were staying behind to report to the cyclopes outside.


	20. Chapter 20

ATCC Chapter 20  
Dawn

It's been a week since the escape from the base and a day until the winter solstice. Since my mother doesn't have a cabin yet and my dad hasn't claimed me I'm stuck sleeping in a spare room in the Big House. It was nice to have my own room again but Dionysus is always making me play card games with him and Chiron whenever I have time, it's so annoying (Don't tell Dionysus I said that). Do to my powers Chiron gave me a schedule that was fairly similar to the Poseidon cabin's schedule. After the winter solstice Percy and Annabeth are leaving camp to find a college that will take them for the second semester. Clare is still in the infirmary and will be for quite a while (at least that's what Will said).

Right now dinner was finishing up but I've already left the dinning pavilion and I'm now sitting on the beach staring out at the ocean. The breach was only place I could go that I felt complete at this camp. Whenever I missed a day of going to the beach now I felt hollow. Right now I was dressed in jean shorts, blue sandals, and an orange Camp Half Blood shirt. I had got one of the Aphrodite girls to fix my uneven hair so now it was even, just above my shoulders.

Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me in the sand so I glanced over my shoulder. Behind me Kenny was walking onto the beach and towards me. We haven't been able to speak much since he is either working in the infirmary or I was being forced to play whatever card game Dionysus decided to drag me into. He was dressed in a Camp Half- Blood shirt, kakis, and Nike sneakers. His shaggy hair was actually tamed for once; it was cut so it was out of his eyes but still long enough to still be easily messed with.

"Hey, you mind," he asked, not nothing to finish his sentence.

"I guess not," I said with some sarcasm in my voice. He sat down beside me with his legs stretched out in front of him while mine were tucked into my chest and my arms wrapped around them. "Is Clare up for the journey tomorrow," I asked, laying my cheek on my knees as I looked at him.

"Yep, though Zane still doesn't think she should leave the infirmary, even if it is for the gods," he replied with a chuckle.

"Zane is going to have to suck it up, I'm not going to Olympus without you guys," I said with a fake huff. Kenny chuckled and leaned back on his hands as he gazed out into the ocean. I followed his gaze and spotted a pod of bottle nose dolphins playing in the distance. I breathed in deeply as a sea breeze blew over the water and past us. It smelled of the ocean, bring a warmer feeling to my body. I felt Kenny's eyes on me so I turned to look at him. His eyes were bright with a hidden emotion that I couldn't quiet read.

"Dawn, I- about what happened before-," he stuttered but I cut him off before he could finish.

"Kenny, I was scared and I didn't want to lose you to my idiot half-brother and my evil mother," I said, not exactly touching on what he really meant. "You're my best friend and have been forever and I don't want anyone to take that away from us."

"Actually I wa-," again I cut him off, this time by pressing my lips to his. It didn't take him long to react. He brought a hand up to rub my cheek gently as well as deepen the kiss. We pulled apart for air, our breathing mingling as our foreheads touched. Kenny's hand lingered on my cheek before it dropped to cover mine that I was using to support me while his other hand already had its fingers intertwined with mine.

"I know," I breathed before kissing him again lightly. I then pulled back fully so I could look at him in the eye. "Now, is there something you want to ask me," I asked with a teasing smile. He looked at me it surprise and confusion for a moment before finally answering.

"Do you want to go out, Dawn," he asked, his voice quivering slightly.

"I always have been able to read your mind," I joked as I nodded my head. "We better not miss the camp fire or people might worry," I added with a grin. I stood up and pulled him up. We walked to the campfire hand in hand.

The next morning Rue woke me up to tell me that she wanted all us Cedar city teens to meet for a short meeting before we headed to Olympus. Reluctantly I got up and got dressed in a Camp Half-Blood shirt, black shorts, and my sneakers. I brushed my hair and did the rest of my necessary morning routine before heading to the infirmary to see Clare. When I walked into her area, which was blocked off by a curtain like the rest of the areas, I found her bed surrounded by the rest of the group.

"Thanks for informing me where the meeting was Rue," I scuffed sarcastically.

"Well sorry, but it seemed kind of obvious to me," she replied. "And apparently it was," she teased. I rolled my eyes but I still couldn't help but smile slightly. Man, I never get tired of realizing how much I have actually missed hanging around my friends all the time.

"So why are we here Rue," Kenny asked as he moved over beside me.

"We're here to talk about what has happened the last, what? Weeks," Clare said before a sound could leave Rue's mouth.

"What is there to discuss," I asked. "We all know exactly what happened."

"That may be true but there is something we're all missing," Rue said making everyone but Clare look at her confused. "We all need each other," she practically exclaimed after a long silence.

"That isn't exactly true," Zane protested, obviously not noticing that he had interrupted Rue.

"Don't interrupt," Clare scolded him, hitting his arm with the back of her hand.

"As I was saying," Rue continued. "We need each other. Look at how we all reacted when Dawn was kidnapped and when Kenny was nearly killed, twice. What do you think is going to happen if one of us gets into a fight that we can't win without the rest of us? We have to stay together no matter what; we can't let anyone face trouble alone."

"Are you saying that we should form a team," I asked. My brain was still buzzing from her reminding me of my fear for Kenny's life a week before. Kenny obviously noticed what I was thinking because he intertwined is fingers with mine.

"Yes a team," Clare said, once again interrupting Rue. Rue shot a glare at Clare as she closed her mouth again.

"And you're yelling at me for interrupting Rue," Zane muttered and Clare hit his arm harder than the first time.

"Why do we not trust each other to not do something stupid without the rest of us," Kenny sneered.

"And who can we blame for that lack of trust," I teased him.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"I know," I whispered back, laying my head on his shoulder.

"If you two are done," Zane teased us, causing me to make a face. "Rue can continue."

"Thank you Zane," Rue said, though looking a little glum now. "It's not that I don't trust you all it's just that we all just seem to depend on each other so why not just make a team from it."

"Team Cedar City," Clare added with a grin.

"Why 'Team Cedar City'," I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because we're the only ones here that are from Cedar City," Rue replied.

"And it shows that we have been together from the beginning," Clare added. That was true; we have been together since long before this whole thing started. We all trust and depends each other so it seemed far to me.

"Good enough for me," Zane said after a few moments of thinking and Kenny and I nodded in agreement.

"Team Cedar City," Clare said as she held her hand out, palm down.

"Team Cedar City," Zane and Rue said together has they put their hands on top of her's. Kenny and I exchanged looks before stepping forward and putting our hands on theirs.

"Team Cedar City," we all cheered together as we threw our hands up in the air. We all laughed together and Clare pulled everyone in for a group hug.

"Can we go get breakfast now," Clare asked after we all stepped out of the hug. "I'm starving." We all laughed again in agreement. Zane helped Clare out of the bed and gave her support as we slowly started making our way to the dining pavilion for breakfast.

I was in my room in the Big House slipping on a warm jacket as I was getting ready to leave with Chiron and the team for Mount Olympus to see the council. I was trying to keep myself at ease as I thought about what the gods may decide to do to me. At the moment I probably have a very slim chance of living; all of Nyx's children most likely have a very slim chance of living. They are probably just keeping me alive so they can get all the information that I know about my mother's actions. Once I tell them all I know they're going to kill me. I then mentally smacked myself for thinking like that as I was walking out of my room, locking the door behind me. I let out a long sigh before making my way downstairs where the group was waiting.

"Finally ready to go, slowpoke," Zane asked, making me roll my eyes.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I sighed as I came to a stop beside Kenny.

"Well then let's get going shall we," Chiron said as he be making is way out of the farm house. We followed closely behind him as he led the way past Peleus and the Golden Fleece and to the dirt road at the foot of Half-Blood Hill. Argus was sitting in the driver's seat waiting for us with his eyes scanning over the area. We all sat in back, even Chiron sat in back, though I guess getting his horse ass in the front seat would be kind of hard. We all road in silence, well except Clare, she kept going on about every place we passed in Manhattan. I groaned in annoyance as Clare went on about the Empire State building as we approached it. Even Rue joined in, spitting out facts and legions.

"How tall is the Empire State building," Clare asked as she leaned towards the window to see the buildings peak.

"One thousand four hundred and fifty-three feet or four hundred and forty-three meters," Rue replied. "It has one hundred and two floors."

"Jeeze," Zane muttered as he leaned towards Clare and the window. Clare looked up at him with a little red on her face as he glanced down at her with a smirk.

"We're here," Chiron announced, making both Zane and Clare jump. The rest of us laughed at them as Zane struggled to get his balance back before he fell on Clare. Chiron reached over and steadied him while the rest of us were climbing out of the van.

"Why are we at the Empire State building again," Clare asked as Kenny helped her out of the van.

"Because Olympus is located on the six hundredth floor, Clare, how many times do I have to tell you that," Rue grumbled uncharacteristically. I looked at her questionably, wondering what got her mood going, but she completely ignored me. I exchanged glances with Clare and then I decided to make sure that I talked to Rue later, if the gods let me live that is.

"Chiron, are you sure it's safe for you to walk around with a horse ass instead of your magic box wheel chair thing," Zane asked. Clare and I giggled a little as Chiron opened his mouth to reply.

"Zane, the Mist will alter what the mortals see me as and I can alter the Mist if I have to," he explained.

"I still don't completely get the whole Mist thing," Zane muttered, shaking his head.

"Just drop it Zane," Kenny said, patting his friend's shoulder.

Chiron led the way inside were he spoke to a security guard. The guard gave him a key and then gave us all a weary look as we all walked by. Chiron led us to an elevator that had a gate on it with a lock. Chiron used the key the guard gave him to unlock it. The elevator doors swung open and surprisingly the elevator could hold Chiron and the rest of us. The doors closed as Chiron pushed one of the buttons on the panel. What was weird was that the button had the Greek omega letter on it.

"What is with the crappy elevator music," Clare said, breaking the silence between all of us. She was right about the music, I didn't know what the song was but I could tell that it was really out dated.

"Someone should really change it," I agreed. As the elevator climbed high I could feel my life's end draw closer. I let out a long sigh and leaned my head back against the elevator wall I was leaning on. That was when I noticed that Kenny's arm was around my shoulders. I looked up at him and our eyes met. He tightened his grip on my shoulders as I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I really didn't want to die. Not when I had just got my friends back, just got together with Kenny, and found put who I really am, daughter of a power hungry goddess and some ignorant sea god.

"Are you coming," Chiron asked, cutting into my peace. I opened my eyes and looked over and noticed the elevator door was open. I felt my face grow warm as I stepped away from Kenny. I felt Rue's glare burn into my skin so I gave her a strange look as I stepped out of the elevator with Kenny beside me. I looked up at Olympus in awe like the rest of the team.

It kind of looked like a big flashy Christmas tree without the whole rainbow of lights and it had a lot more noisy. Well maybe the noise was from the loud city below us but you could still tell there was some noise coming from Olympus. As Chiron led us through the streets I had expected to see old temples and other things made with old style architecture, but instead everything was built with new modern style architecture twist. Chiron came to a stop in front of very tall golden double doors that I had to guess was the entrance to the counsel.

"I do not enter these doors unless summoned," Chiron said. "Which I was not, only you all were summoned so only you will enter these doors and greet the gods."

"So is there like a password to open the doors or do we have to force them open," Zane asked, jokingly. Clare hit his stomach with the back of her hand while Chiron looked at him weirdly. The centaur stepped a few paces back away from the door as it began to open inward. I took a few steps back and watched with wide eyes, probably full of fear.

"Whoa," Clare muttered quietly. I nodded slightly in agreement and Kenny put an arm around my waist gently for comfort. Unfortunately at the moment I was for from comfort so there was no saving me now. I took in a big breath and exchanged a glance with the whole time before taking the first steps toward the gigantic room. The rest of them followed closely behind as our footsteps echoed around the large room. There was twelve throne and all of them were filled by easily name gods. Zeus was in the middle with Poseidon on one side and Hera on the other.

I fought with myself not to glare at the goddess, and trust me that was hard. At camp I heard plenty of stories about her little trade with her roman self and frankly I would have probably attacked her with my hardest if I was there at the time. I'm surprised that she was even willing to show her face around Poseidon since I heard he was pretty freakn' mad about the release because of Percy.

"Dawn Ocean, Kenny Marthon, Rue Simetra, Zane Blatch, and Clare Peterson," Zeus's voice boomed around the room, making me flinch slightly. "Welcome to the counsel of the gods." We all remained quiet. I felt extremely fidgety with all their eyes fixed on me; I swear I felt like I was burning a little bit. "So what can you tell us of your mother's plans?" I had to think for a moment to recall what went on at the base. I had been trying to push most of it away for a while now and I refused to think anything of the experience.

"Well she didn't tell me much since she didn't fully trust me yet," I replied after the long silence. "I just know that she is planning on overthrowing the whole counsel and that she isn't the one that came up with this whole plan. There is someone else, some other god, pulling her strings, along with other minor gods and goddesses."

"Who else," Athena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's just what we need," Hermes exclaimed. "A more powerful minor god pulling Nyx's strings!"

"No, I do not know who it is," I said before Zeus could even start to ask. "Even if I go back there I'll be lucky if she keeps me alive." Zeus sighed and rubbed his temples while Poseidon spoke up.

"Have you told us absolutely everything you know about this plan," he asked. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. I couldn't believe I would keep something away from the gods. I'm no idiot so I'm sure I would tell them everything so I don't to go see Hades early. Poseidon just gave me a look that didn't match the unknown look in his eyes at all.

"Yes I am sure I told you everything I know about her stupid plan now please can I ask a question," I said as I put my hands on my hips. All the council members exchanged glances before anyone replied.

"Fine, what is your question," Zeus asked sternly.

"Who is my father," I asked as seriously as I could, which must have been pretty serious since many of the god's eyes widened. I was expecting some sea or river god to appear and be all 'I am your father', all Dark Vader like. All the gods exchanged glances but not Poseidon. He stared down at me with care filled eyes. I wasn't the only one that noticed since Zeus looked at his brother with a hard suspicious look.

"Is there something you want to say Poseidon," the lord of the gods asked. Poseidon looked at him unsteadily for a few moments before letting out a long sigh.

"Fourteen years ago Nix told me that she was pregnant with triplets. When they were born they were much too powerful to keep together so she separated them and found them safe homes across the country," he explained. "Dawn is one of them. If she is one of the three in the prophecy then there is a possibility that the other two are the last two in the prophecy as well as in extreme danger."

"Wait! Did you say 'triplets'," Hermes said, shocked. Everyone in the room was shocked beyond the usual.

"Yes. Triplets," Poseidon sighed. I rubbed my temples harshly and my head started pounding. This was too much. All I had asked was who my father was. I didn't expect to find out I was a daughter of one of the big three and that I was just one of three. I was confused about what prophecy they were talking about but I didn't bothering asking.

"Why wasn't I informed of this," Zeus boomed. His master bolt zapped into his hand as he glared at Poseidon threatening.

"I didn't know until a year and a half after they were born," Poseidon protested. "By then it was too late to do anything about it." After that I zoned out, feeling lite headed and confused. Kenny put his arm around me for support as I started to sway slightly. I let out a long breath I didn't know I was even holding and relaxed into his embrace. Suddenly thunder crackled, shaking the room. I jumped in surprise and fright as the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up on end. Kenny drew me closer and tightened his arms around me, burying my face in his chest, as a bright light engulfed the room. I didn't lift my head until I felt Kenny removed his face from where it was buried in my hair.

The room was completely silent and Zeus was gone. Poseidon looked like he just got hit by a million bolts of electricity, though I guess he probably had. He looked completely unfazed as he looked down at me with a very sympathetic look. I glared at him and turned away to look at the others. "I think we should go now," I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself as tear threatened to fall. Clare walked over and wrapped her arms around me in a hug, which I happily accepted.

"Dawn Ocean," someone said from behind me. I could tell by the look on Clare's and Kenny's faces that it was either Zeus or Poseidon. I turned around slowly with a bleak expression on my face. Poseidon stood behind me at a normal human height, his eyes watching me closely before sending a glance to everyone behind me. I looked over as everyone dispersed, going off to talk to their parent and leaving me alone with my father.

"What can I do for you, Lord Poseidon," I asked, venom dripping in my words as I spoke.

"You are my daughter, I would not like you to hate me," he sighed with a sad face.

"Well you're not giving me much of a reason not to," I huffed, crossing my arms. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at where Kenny was speaking to Apollo and Rue was talking to Athena and Artemis. I couldn't hear what any of them were talking about at all.

"Dawn. I am sorry for not claiming you like I should have once you got to camp but I couldn't risk Nyx finding out through a spy of some kind in the camp. I couldn't give her a bigger motive to take you back, she would now you're one in the prophecy if she knew you were one of them," he explained.

"I don't really care about that right now," I growled. "I want to know why you didn't warn me about this in the first place. You could have came to me in a dream or something."

"I did the best I could honey," he protested. "I spoke to one of your friends. I told him to be sure to get you out before it was too late. I guess I owe him a reward for succeeding."

"Zane or Kenny?"

"The smart one with that magical switch blade that turns into a bow and arrows," he replied. I turned my head to look over at Kenny.

'Wait! Kenny knew that...,' I thought surprised. I shook my head. 'Kenny would have told me if he knew. Right?' I was unsure now. 'If he knew why didn't he tell me? It's not like it was something someone can easily forget.' "Why didn't he tell me that he knew," I said without realizing I said it aloud.

"He wanted to protect you," Poseidon replied. At first I thought he had read my mind but then I realized that I said that out loud. I stayed silent, staring at the ground. "He knew I haven't claimed you because if Nyx found out he would lose you for good," he went on. I remained silent and stared at the floor.

I knew Kenny cared. I mean how couldn't I know? Everyone knows and Clare never stops reminding me sometimes. I shook my head, trying to organize my thoughts. All my thoughts went on hold and I couldn't think of anything at all.

"Dawn Ocean," someone said behind me, making me jump. I spun around and found Athena and Rue behind me.

"Y-yes," I said in reply with a shaky voice.

"You are very brave and confused," she began, glaring down at me. "I too, have been watching you like your father has been watching you. You have much promise and big shoes to fill if you want to match up anywhere near close to your brother, Perseus Jackson."

"Of course, he's done more within five years than I could do I a whole life time," I grumbled, crossing my arms. Athena looked a little smug after I said that but it quickly disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"Don't worry Dawn, you will exceed all your siblings as long as you are smart," Poseidon said, resting his hands on my shoulders.

"Her be smart," Athena exclaimed. "You obviously weren't watching her very well while she was with her mother's!"

I opened my mouth in protest but Poseidon beat me to it.

"She helped all of the kids out and saved Kenny," he snapped. "There was nothing more she could have done! You don't know how persuasive Nyx really is!"

"But you would, of course," the goddess snapped back quickly. My father pushed me back behind him and away from Athena as he summoned his trident. I heard Chiron's hooves clip-clop up behind me before he rested a hand on my shoulder.

"I think it's time we go," he said, motioning for Rue to join us. She looped around carefully, careful not to get to close to her mother and my father. Clare, Zane, and Kenny joined us soon after, glancing at the two grumpy gods warily. Chiron herded us out of the room and towards the elevator with Rue leading the way.

I glanced back cautiously as a bang erupted. A shiver ran down my spine and I felt a sudden surge of guilt. I felt like if I wasn't so stupid and actually thought some things through I could have prevented all of this from happening. But no, I had to get caught up in seeing Brandon again that I forgot to actually think.

I shook my head and let my hair fall in my face as I felt something stir deep inside me. I clenched my fists as I thought about what my father said. 'Three? Triplets? How could I've not figured that out,' I scolded myself. 'Nyx always was saying something about having one of the three. Gods, I'm dumb!'

"Dawn, are you okay," Kenny asked suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at him confused, not sure why he would ask me that. Then I noticed that my fists were frosted in ice.

"Ya, I'm fine," I replied, nodding my head. I probably sounded like I was trying to convince myself more than him. I let out a sigh and crossed my arms as Kenny put his arm around my shoulders. We stepped into the elevator and began our descent back to the human world where something terrible was waiting to strike at us all.

* * *

**I'm working on Book 2 right now and will hopefully have the first chapter up before the end of the month as long as I don't forget about it. Which I really shouldn't forget about it since I have a friend that asks me about it and now she asks me about it sometimes so I should get it done. Fingers crossed!**


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